Temperature-dependent theory of tunneling in the fractional quantum Hall effect

Recent experiments have studied the tunneling current between two edges of the same fractional quantum Hall liquid as a function of temperature and voltage. The experimental findings for low temperatures are at odds with the model where the edges are described as chiral Luttinger liquids, while the data at high temperatures are quite consistent with the same model. Here, we argue that a temperature dependence of the tunneling amplitude, not foreseen in previous works, can explain this discrepancy. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.