Quantum Hall Resistance and Quantum Hall Plateaus from Edge State Quantization

Abstract

Despite the extensive literature on the quantum Hall effect (QHE), a direct derivation of the phenomenological formula $\rho_{xy} = h/e^2\nu$ from first principles has remained elusive. In this work, we revisit the Landau and Landauer-B\"uttiker formalisms and impose hard-wall boundary conditions on the wavefunction, an essential but often overlooked constraint. This condition quantizes the guiding center position and the longitudinal wave number $k_x$, leading naturally to a discrete number of edge states without invoking energy bending. We derive the Hall resistance directly and recover the standard result $\rho_{xy} = h/e^2\nu$, along with an explicit expression for the filling factor $\nu$ in terms of the Fermi energy and magnetic field. The resulting resistance steps reproduce the observed QHE plateaus and match experimental data without fitting parameters.