Reconstruction of Fractional Quantum Hall Edges

Abstract

We study the interplay of electron-electron interaction, confining potential and effects of finite temperature at the edge of a quantum Hall liquid. Our exact diagonalization calculation indicates that edge reconstruction occurs in the fractional quantum Hall regime for a variety of confining potential, including ones that correspond to a "sharp" edge. Our finite temperature Hartree-Fock calculation for integer quantum Hall edges indicates that reconstruction is suppressed above a certain temperature. We discuss the implication of our results on recent edge tunneling and microwave absorption experiments.