Quantum Hall Systems: Braid Groups, Composite Fermions, and Fractional Charge

Discovered some 20 years ago with a Nobel Prize awarded in 1985 for work in this intriguing area of condensed matter physics, many unanswered questions remain about quantum Hall effects. Jacak and his colleagues (physics, U. of Technology, Wroclaw, Poland) treat some important topics in theory of the physics of quantum Hall effects for physicists and graduate students in the field. They pay particular attention to the fractional quantum Hall effect (as vs. the integer one) and its relationship with the topology of planar systems. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Lucjan Jacak is a professor at the Institute of Physics, Wroclaw University of Technology. He was Director of the Institute of Physics in 1991-1996 and Pro-Rector of Wroclaw University of Technology during 1996-1999. He has received various awards for his work. Piotr Sitko is an associate professor at the Institute of Physics, Wroclaw University of Technology. He received two awards in 1995 and 1998. Konrad Wieczorek is an associate professor at the Institute of Physics, Wroclaw University of Technology. Arkadiusz Wójs is an assistant professor at the Institute of Physics, Wroclaw University of Technology. He received three awards during 1996-1998.