Hilbert Space Structure of the Low Energy Sector of U(N) Quantum Hall Ferromagnets and Their Classical Limit

Abstract

Using the Lieb–Mattis ordering theorem of electronic energy levels, we identify the Hilbert space of the low energy sector of U(N) quantum Hall/Heisenberg ferromagnets at filling factor M for L Landau/lattice sites with the carrier space of irreducible representations of U(N) described by rectangular Young tableaux of M rows and L columns, and associated with Grassmannian phase spaces U(N)~U(M) × U(N − M). We embed this N-component fermion mixture in Fock space through a Schwinger–Jordan (boson and fermion) representation of U(N)-spin operators. We provide different realizations of basis vectors using Young diagrams, Gelfand–Tsetlin patterns and Fock states (for an electron/flux occupation number in the fermionic/bosonic representation). U(N)-spin operator matrix elements in the Gelfand–Tsetlin basis are explicitly given. Coherent state excitations above the ground state are computed and labeled by complex (N −M) ×M matrix points Z on the Grassmannian phase space. They adopt the form of a U(N) displaced/rotated highest-weight vector, or a multinomial Bose–Einstein condensate in the flux occupation number representation. Replacing U(N)-spin operators by their expectation values in a Grassmannian coherent state allows for a semi-classical treatment of the low energy (long wavelength) U(N)-spin-wave coherent excitations (skyrmions) of U(N) quantum Hall ferromagnets in terms of Grasmannian nonlinear sigma models.