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{{Short description|Quantization of cyclotron orbits}}
In [[quantum mechanics]], '''Landau quantization''' refers to the quantizationenergies of the [[Cyclotron resonance|cyclotron orbits]] of charged particles in a uniform [[magnetic field.]] are Asquantized ato result,discrete the charged particles can only occupy orbits with discretevalues, equidistantthus energyknown values, calledas '''Landau levels'''. These levels are [[Degenerate energy level|degenerate]], with the number of electrons per level directly proportional to the strength of the applied magnetic field. It is named after the Soviet physicist [[Lev Landau]].<ref>{{cite journal | last=Landau | first=L. |author-link=Lev Landau |title=Diamagnetismus der Metalle |trans-title=Diamagnetism of Metals| journal=Zeitschrift für Physik | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=64 | issue=9–10 | year=1930 | issn=1434-6001 | doi=10.1007/bf01397213 | pages=629–637 | bibcode=1930ZPhy...64..629L | s2cid=123206025 | language=de}}</ref>
 
'''Landau quantization''' iscontributes directlytowards responsible for the electronic[[magnetic susceptibility]] of metals, known as [[Landau diamagnetism]]. Under strong magnetic fields, Landau quantization leads to oscillations in electronic properties of materials as a function of the applied magnetic field known as the [[De Haas–Van Alphen effect|De Haas–Van Alphen]] and [[Shubnikov–de Haas effect|Shubnikov–de Haas effects]]s.
 
Landau quantization is a key ingredient toin explainexplanation of the [[Quantum Hall effect|integer quantum Hall effect]].
 
== Derivation ==
[[File:Cyclotron Orbit.jpg|thumb|Diagram of a cyclotron orbit of a particle with speed '''v''', which is the classical trajectory of a charged particle (here positive charge) under a uniform magnetic field '''B'''. The Landau quantization refers to a quantum charged particle under a uniform magnetic field.]]
Consider a system of non-interacting particles with charge {{mvar|q}} and spin {{mvar|S}} confined to an area {{math|1=''A'' = ''L<sub>x</sub>L<sub>y</sub>''}} in the {{math|''x-y''}} plane. Apply a uniform magnetic field <math>\mathbf{B} = \begin{pmatrix}0\\0\\B\end{pmatrix}</math> along the {{mvar|z}}-axis. In [[CGSSI]] units, the [[Hamiltonian (quantum mechanics)#Charged particle in an electromagnetic field|Hamiltonian]] of this system (here, the effects of spin are neglected) is
<math display="block">\hat{H} = \frac{1}{2m} \left|(\hat{\mathbf{p}} - q\hat{\mathbf{A}}\right|)^2.</math>
Here, <math display="inline">\hat{\mathbf{p}}</math> is the [[Canonical coordinates|canonical]] [[momentum operator]] and <math display="inline">\hat{\mathbf{A}}</math> is the [[Operator (physics)#Operators in quantum mechanics|operator]] for the [[Magnetic vector potential|electromagnetic vector potential]], which<math isdisplay="inline">\mathbf{A}</math> related to the(in [[magneticPosition fieldand momentum spaces#Position and momentum spaces in quantum mechanics|position space]] by<math display="inline">\hat{\mathbf{A}} =\mathbf{A}</math>).
<math display="block">\mathbf{B}=\mathbf{\nabla}\times \hat{\mathbf{A}}. </math>
 
The vector potential is related to the [[magnetic field]] by <math display="block">\mathbf{B}=\mathbf{\nabla}\times \hat{\mathbf{A}}. </math>
There is some gauge freedom in the choice of vector potential for a given magnetic field. The Hamiltonian is [[gauge invariance|gauge invariant]], which means that adding the gradient of a [[scalar field]] to {{math|'''Â'''}} changes the overall phase of the [[wave function]] by an amount corresponding to the scalar field. But physical properties are not influenced by the specific choice of gauge.
 
There is some gauge freedom in the choice of vector potential for a given magnetic field. The Hamiltonian is [[gauge invariance|gauge invariant]], which means that adding the gradient of a [[scalar field]] to {{math|'''ÂA'''}} changes the overall phase of the [[wave function]] by an amount corresponding to the scalar field. But physical properties are not influenced by the specific choice of gauge.
 
=== In the Landau gauge ===
From the possible solutions for '''A''', a [[gauge fixing]] introduced by Lev Landau is often used for charged particles in a constant magnetic field.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://courses.physics.illinois.edu/phys581/sp2013/charge_mag.pdf |title=Charge in Magnetic Field |access-date=11 March 2023 |website=courses.physics.illinois.edu}}</ref>
For simplicity in calculation, choose the [[Landau gauge]], which is
 
<math display="block">\hat{\mathbf{A}} = \begin{pmatrix} 0 \\ B\hat{x} \\ 0 \end{pmatrix}.</math>
When <math>\mathbf{B} = \begin{pmatrix} 0 \\ 0 \\ B \end{pmatrix}</math> then <math>\mathbf{A} = \begin{pmatrix} 0 \\ B\cdot x \\ 0 \end{pmatrix}</math> is a possible solution<ref>An equally correct solution in the Landau gauge would be: <math>\mathbf{A} = \begin{pmatrix} -B y & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix}^T</math>.</ref> in the Landau gauge.
where {{math|1=''B'' = {{abs|'''B'''}}}} and {{math|''x̂''}} is the {{mvar|x}} component of the position operator.
 
In this gauge, the Hamiltonian is
<math display="block">\hat{H} = \frac{\hat{p}_x^2}{2m} + \frac{1}{2m} \left(\hat{p}_y - qB\hat{x}\right)^2 + \frac{\hat{p}_z^2}{2m}.</math>
The operator <math>\hat{p}_y</math> commutes with this Hamiltonian, since the operator {{math|''ŷ''}} is absent by the choice of gauge. Thus the operator <math>\hat{p}_y</math> can be replaced by its eigenvalue {{math|''ħk<sub>y</sub>''}}. Since <math>\hat{z}</math> does not appear in the Hamiltonian and only the z-momentum appears in the kinetic energy, this motion along the z-direction is a free motion.
 
The Hamiltonian can also be written more simply by noting that the [[Cyclotron resonance|cyclotron frequency]] is {{math|1=''ω''<sub>c</sub> = ''qB''/''m''}}, giving
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This is exactly the Hamiltonian for the [[quantum harmonic oscillator]], except with the minimum of the potential shifted in coordinate space by {{math|1=''x''<sub>0</sub> = ''ħk<sub>y</sub>''/''mω''<sub>c</sub>}} .
 
To find the energies, note that translating the harmonic oscillator potential does not affect the energies. The energies of this system are thus identical to those of the standard [[quantum harmonic oscillator]],<ref>{{cite book | last1=Landau | first1=L. D. |author-link1=Lev Landau|last2=Lifshitz|first2=E. M.|author-link2=Evgeny Lifshitz| title=Quantum mechanics : non-relativistic theory |edition=3rd| publisher=Butterworth Heinemann | publication-place=Amsterdam | year=1977 | isbn=978-0-7506-3539-4 | oclc=846962062 | pagepages=424-426424–426}}</ref>
<math display="block">E_n=\hbar\omega_{\rm c}\left(n+\frac{1}{2}\right) + \frac{p_z^2}{2m},\quad n\geq 0~. </math>
The energy does not depend on the quantum number {{math|''k<sub>y</sub>''}}, so there will be a finite number of degeneracies (If the particle is placed in an unconfined space, this degeneracy will correspond to a continuous sequence of <math>p_y</math>). The value of <math>p_z</math> is continuous if the particle is unconfined in the z-direction and discrete if the particle is bounded in the z-direction also. Each set of wave functions with the same value of {{mvar|n}} is called a '''Landau level'''.
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===In the symmetric gauge===
The derivation treated {{mvar|x}} and ''y'' as slightly asymmetric. However, by the symmetry of the system, there is no physical quantity which distinguishes these coordinates. The same result could have been obtained with an appropriate interchange of {{mvar|x}} and {{mvar|y}}.
 
A more adequate choice of gauge, is the symmetric gauge, which refers to the choice
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== Relativistic case ==
{{See also|Dirac matter}}
[[File:Graphene - Geim - Landau levels.svg|thumb|193x193px|Landau levels in [[graphene]]. [[Charge carrier|Charge carriers]]s in graphene behave as relativistic massless [[Dirac equation|Dirac]] particles.]]
An electron following [[Dirac equation]] under a constant magnetic field, can be analytically solved.<ref>{{Cite journal| last=Rabi|first=I. I.|date=1928|title=Das freie Elektron im homogenen Magnetfeld nach der Diracschen Theorie| url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF01333634| journal=Zeitschrift für Physik|language=de|volume=49|issue=7–8| pages=507–511| doi=10.1007/BF01333634|bibcode=1928ZPhy...49..507R |s2cid=121121095|issn=1434-6001}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Berestetskii|first1=V. B.| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tpk-lqyr3GoC&q=lifshitz+electrodynamics|title=Quantum Electrodynamics: Volume 4| last2=Pitaevskii| first2=L. P.|last3=Lifshitz|first3=E. M.|date=2012-12-02|publisher=Elsevier| isbn=978-0-08-050346-2| language=en}}</ref> The energies are given by
<math display="block">E_{\rm rel}=\pm \sqrt{(mc^2)^2+(c\hbar k_z)^2+2\nu \hbar\omega_{\rm c} mc^2}</math>
 
where ''c'' is the speed of light, the sign depends on the particle-antiparticle component and ''ν'' is a non-negative integer. Due to spin, all levels are degenerate except for the ground state at {{math|1=''ν'' = 0}}.
 
The massless 2D case can be simulated in [[single-layer materials]] like [[graphene]] near the [[Dirac cone|Dirac cones]]s, where the eigenergies are given by<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Yin|first1=Long-Jing|last2=Bai|first2=Ke-Ke|last3=Wang|first3=Wen-Xiao| last4=Li|first4=Si-Yu|last5=Zhang|first5=Yu|last6=He|first6=Lin|date=2017|title=Landau quantization of Dirac fermions in graphene and its multilayers|journal=Frontiers of Physics|language=en|volume=12| issue=4 |pages=127208|doi=10.1007/s11467-017-0655-0|arxiv=1703.04241 |bibcode=2017FrPhy..12l7208Y |issn=2095-0462|doi-access=free}}</ref>
<math display="block">E_{\rm graphene}=\pm \sqrt{2\nu\hbar eBv_{\rm F}^2 }</math>
where the speed of light has to be replaced with the [[Fermi energy|Fermi speed]] ''v''<sub>F</sub> of the material and the minus sign corresponds to [[electron hole]]s.
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== Two-dimensional lattice ==
{{See also|Hofstadter's butterfly}}
The [[tight binding]] energy spectrum of charged particles in a two dimensional infinite lattice is known to be [[Self-similarity|self-similar]] and [[fractal]], as demonstrated in [[Hofstadter's butterfly]]. For an integer ratio of the [[Fluxon|magnetic flux quantum]] and the magnetic flux through a lattice cell, one recovers the Landau levels for large integers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Analytis|first1=James G.|last2=Blundell|first2=Stephen J.|last3=Ardavan|first3=Arzhang|date=May 2004 |title=Landau levels, molecular orbitals, and the Hofstadter butterfly in finite systems|url=http://aapt.scitation.org/doi/10.1119/1.1615568|journal=American Journal of Physics|language=en|volume=72|issue=5|pages=613–618|doi=10.1119/1.1615568 |bibcode=2004AmJPh..72..613A |issn=0002-9505}}</ref>
 
== Integer quantum Hall effect ==
{{Main|Quantum Hall effect}}
{{Expand section|date=August 2021}}
The energy spectrum of the [[semiconductor]] in a strong magnetic field forms Landau levels that can be labeled by integer indices. In addition, the [[Hall effect|Hall resistivity]] also exhibits discrete levels labeled by an integer {{mvar|ν}}. The fact that these two quantities are related can be shown in different ways, but most easily can be seen from [[Drude model]]: the Hall conductivity depends on the electron density {{mvar|n}} as
 
<math>\rho_{xy}=\frac{B}{n e}.</math>
 
Since the resistivity plateau is given by
 
<math>\rho_{xy}=\frac{2 \pi\hbar }{e^2}\frac{1}{\nu},</math>
 
the required density is
 
<math>n=\frac{B }{\Phi_0}\nu,</math>
 
which is exactly the density required to fill the Landau level. The [[energy gap|gap]] between different Landau levels along with large degeneracy of each level renders the resistivity quantized.
 
==See also==
*[[Barkhausen effect]]
*[[Laughlin wavefunction]]
*[[Static forces and virtual-particle exchange]]
 
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
== External links ==
* {{cite web|author=Lev Landau (1930)|language=de|title=Diamagnetismus der Metalle|url=https://gilles.montambaux.com/files/histoire-physique/Landau-1930.pdf}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator -->
 
==Further reading==
* Landau, L. D.; and Lifschitz, E. M.; (1977). ''Quantum Mechanics: Non-relativistic Theory. Course of Theoretical Physics''. Vol. 3 (3rd ed. London: Pergamon Press). {{ISBN|0750635398}}.
 
{{Authority control}}
 
[[Category:Quantum mechanics]]