RESPONSE FUNCTIONS AND SPECTRUM OF COLLECTIVE EXCITATIONS OF FRACTIONAL-QUANTUM-HALL-EFFECT SYSTEMS

We calculate the electromagnetic response functions of a fractional-quantum-Hall-effect (FQHE) system within the framework of the fermion Chern-Simons theory for the FQHE, which we developed before. Our results are valid in a semiclassical expansion around the average-field approximation (AFA). We reexamine the AFA and the role of fluctuations. We argue that, order-by-order in the semiclassical expansion, the response functions obey the correct symmetry properties required by Galilean and gauge invariance and by the incompressibility of the fluid. In particular, we find that the low-momentum limit of the semiclassical approximation to the response functions is exact and that it saturates the f-sum rule. We obtain the spectrum of collective excitations of FQHE systems in the low-momentum limit. We find a rich spectrum of modes which includes a host of quasiparticle-quasihole bound states and, in general, two collective modes coalescing at the cyclotron frequency. The Hall conductance is obtained from the current-density correlation function, and it has the correct value already at the semiclassical level. We applied these results to the problem of the screening of external charges and fluxes by the electron fluid, and obtained asymptotic expressions of the charge and current-density profiles, for different types of interactions. Finally, we reconsider the anyon superfluid within our scheme and derive the spectrum of collective modes for interacting hard-core bosons and semions. In addition to the gapless phase mode, we find a set of gapped collective modes.