DUALITY IN THE QUANTUM HALL SYSTEM

We suggest that a unified description of the integer and fractional phases of the quantum Hall system may be possible if the scaling diagram of transport coefficients is invariant under linear fractional (modular) transformations. In this model the hierarchy of states, as well as the observed universality of critical exponents, are consequences of a discrete SL (2,Z) symmetry acting on the parameter space of an effective quantum-field theory. Available scaling data on the position of delocalization fixed points in the integer case and the position of mobility fixed points in the fractional case agree with the model within experimental accuracy.