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Electric potential in the classical Hall effect: An unusual
boundary-value problem
Matthew J. Moelter, James Evans, and Greg Elliott
Department of Physics, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington 98416
Martin Jackson
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington 98416
~Received 16 September 1997; accepted 27 January 1998!
The classical Hall effect presents a surprisingly unusual and challenging problem in electrostatics,
with boundary conditions that are not of Dirichlet, Neumann, or of mixed Dirichlet and Neumann
type. These unusual boundary conditions create several difficulties not normally encountered in
standard problems, and ultimately lead to expansion of the electric potential in a nonorthogonal
basis set. We derive the boundary conditions for the potential in a rectangular geometry, construct
a solution for the potential, and discuss the relation between this problem and problems of the
standard mixed type. We also address a commonly encountered misconception about the current
distribution. 1998 American Association of Physics Teachers.
668 Am. J. Phys. 66 ~8!, August 1998 1998 American Association of Physics Teachers 668
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Fig. 2. Balance of forces corresponding to Eq. ~5!: ~a! general situation, ~b!
Fig. 1. Sample geometry showing the axes, top and bottom boundary con- at the right edge, J is straight down since J x 50, ~c! at the top edge E is
ditions, and the magnetic field into the page. The points labeled P and Q are straight down since y5H is an equipotential.
symmetry points.
669 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 66, No. 8, August 1998 Moelter et al. 669
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V ~ x,2H ! 52V 0 , ~15! d 2Y
5k 2 Y , ~20!
]V
]x
U x50
5l
]V
]y
U x50
, ~16!
dy 2
where the separation constant, k 2 , is yet to be determined.
U U
X(x) and Y (y) are, of course, real functions of their argu-
]V ]V ments.
5l . ~17!
]x x5L
]y x5L
We can easily show that k must be real, and therefore X is
a trigonometric function of x and Y is an exponential func-
Note that l depends on B 0 so the no magnetic field case tion of y. To see this put V5XY in Eq. ~16! to find
corresponds to l50.
This is an unusual set of boundary conditions. Typically, X 80 Y 5lY 8 X 0 , ~21!
either the potential ~Dirichlet!, or the normal derivative of where the prime denotes differentiation with respect to the
the potential ~Neumann!, is known on each boundary, or else
argument (X 8 5dX/dx,Y 8 5dY /dy). The subscript 0 de-
the problem is of the mixed type, with Dirichlet condi-
tions on part of the boundary and Neumann on the remain- notes evaluation at x50. Differentiating Eq. ~21! with re-
der. In our case the boundary conditions for the left and right spect to y we get
edges are given in terms of both partial derivatives of the X 80 Y 8 5lY 9 X 0 . ~22!
unknown potential, V(x,y). Note that the problem reduces to
the standard mixed type for l50. The general (l0) Substituting Eq. ~20! in Eq. ~22! we find
problem does not appear to be covered in the standard treat- X 08 Y 8 5lk 2 Y X 0 . ~23!
ments of potential theory.8
Then using Eq. ~21! in Eq. ~23! to eliminate Y 8 we have
IV. SOLUTION
We seek solutions of Laplaces equation that satisfy con-
k 25 S D
X 08
lX 0
2
. ~24!
ditions ~16! and ~17!. Any linear combination of such solu- Consequently, k 2 is real and non-negative. Therefore, k is
tions will still satisfy ~16! and ~17!. The appropriate linear real and from the forms of Eqs. ~19! and ~20! we see that
combination can then be built up to satisfy Eqs. ~14! and X(x) is trigonometric and Y (y) is exponential.
~15!. We will handle the two forms for solutions of Laplaces For a given value of k, the harmonic-exponential solution
equation separately. is then of the form
A. Linear solution V k ~ x,y ! 5 ~ A k cos kx1B k sin kx !~ C k e ky 1D k e 2ky ! . ~25!
A linear function of x or y will clearly be annihilated by
the Laplacian operator. The bilinear solution V(x,y)5(a C. Applying the boundary conditions at x50, L
1bx)(c1dy), with a,b,c,d constant, satisfies the differen- We now apply conditions ~16! and ~17! to determine the
tial equation. However, it is easy to see that this form cannot separation constant k and to restrict the range of possibilities
satisfy the boundary conditions Eqs. ~16! and ~17!. Similarly
for the constants of integration A,B,C,D. First, applying Eq.
V(x,y)5(a1bx) f (y) or (c1dy)g(x), where f and g are ~16! to Eq. ~25!, we find
arbitrary functions, cannot satisfy Eqs. ~16! and ~17!. We are
therefore left with the possibility of a linear function of x Bk C k e ky 2D k e 2ky
5l . ~26!
plus a linear function of y. At the left or right edge, the slope Ak C k e ky 1D k e 2ky
of the equipotential curve is 2l. Thus the linear solution
must be of the form Thus the right side of Eq. ~26! cannot be a function of y.
Hence, either
V ~ x,y ! 5al ~ x1b ! 1ay1c,
C k 50, B k 52lA k , ~27!
where a,b,c are constants. We know from elementary con-
or
siderations that in the absence of a magnetic field the solu-
tion is V(x,y)5V 0 y/H. The case of no magnetic field D k 50, B k 5lA k . ~28!
corresponds to l50 so a5V 0 /H and c50. The linear so-
For a specific value of k, the most general solution is a linear
lution is therefore of the form
combination of both possibilities. Thus we have
V0
V ~ x,y ! 5 @ l ~ x1b ! 1y # . ~18! V k ~ x,y ! 5R k ~ cos kx1l sin kx ! e ky
H
1S k ~ cos kx2l sin kx ! e 2ky , ~29!
B. Harmonic-exponential solutions where R k [A k C k ~for the case D k 50! and S k [A k D k ~for the
For the nonlinear forms we assume separable solutions of case C k 50!.
the form V(x,y)5X(x)Y (y). In the usual way, Laplaces If we impose condition ~17! on Eq. ~29! and note that the
equation then separates into two ordinary differential equa- terms in e ky and e 2ky must satisfy this condition separately,
tions: we find
d 2X ~ 11l 2 ! sin kL50. ~30!
52k 2 X, ~19!
dx 2 Hence sin kL50 and k is restricted to values k n given by
670 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 66, No. 8, August 1998 Moelter et al. 670
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k n 5n p /L, ~31! with the same magnitude but opposite sign. Imposing this
symmetry on Eq. ~33! requires that b52L/2. Furthermore,
where n51,2,3,... . both the cosine and sine terms in the sum of Eq. ~33! must
The most general solution satisfying the boundary condi- satisfy the symmetry separately. ~Remember that l is a free
tions at the left and right edges is therefore Eq. ~18! plus parameter.! Now, since k n 5n p /L,
expressions of the form of Eq. ~29!, with k n restricted by Eq.
~31!: cos k n ~ L2x ! 5 ~ 21 ! n cos k n x,
V0 sin k n ~ L2x ! 5 ~ 21 ! n11 sin k n x.
V ~ x,y ! 5 @ l ~ x1b ! 1y #
H Requiring that each term in Eq. ~33! satisfy the symmetry
V2V when xL2x and y2y then leads to ~from the
1 (
n51,2,3,...
@ R n ~ cos k n x1l sin k n x ! e k n y cosine terms!
~ 21 ! n ~ R n e 2k n y 1S n e k n y ! 52R n e k n y 2S n e 2k n y ,
1S n ~ cos k n x2l sin k n x ! e 2k n y # ~32!
and to ~from the sine terms!
or, recombining terms,
~ 21 ! n11 ~ R n e 2k n y 2S n e k n y ! 52R n e k n y 1S n e 2k n y .
V0
V ~ x,y ! 5
H
@ l ~ x1b ! 1y # 1
n51,2,3,...
(
@ cos k n x ~ R n e k n y Adding these two equations, we find
S n 5 ~ 21 ! n11 R n . ~34!
1S n e 2k n y ! 1l sin k n x ~ R n e k n y 2S n e 2k n y !# . ~33!
Two cases arise:
D. Exploiting a symmetry for odd n, S n 5R n ,
To proceed further, let us note a symmetry of the system ~35!
of Eqs. ~1!, ~14!, ~15!, ~16!, and ~17!. These have the prop- for even n, S n 52R n .
erty that V2V when xL2x and y2y. This means, Using Eq. ~35! in Eq. ~33! we arrive at our final form of the
for example, that points P and Q in Fig. 1 have potentials solution:
V ~ x,y ! 5
V0
H F S D G ( F S D S D S D S DG
L
l x2 1y 1
2 m51,3,...
T m cos
mp
L
x cosh
mp
L
y 1l sin
mp
L
x sinh
mp
L
y
( F S D S D S D S DG
np np np np
1 U n cos x sinh y 1l sin x cosh y , ~36!
n52,4,... L L L L
where T m 52R m ~for m odd! and U n 52R n ~for n even!. Adding and subtracting the two versions of Eq. ~37! gives
From here on we shall use the subscript m to label the odd
coefficients T 1 ,T 3 ,... and the subscript n to label the even
coefficients U 2 ,U 4 ,... .
2
V0
H F S DG
l x2
L
2
FS D G
and
S D S D
V0 L
6V 0 5 l x2 6H mp mp
H 2 05l ( T m sin x sinh H
( F S D S D
m51,3,... L L
mp mp
1
m51,3,...
T m cos
L
x cosh
L
H
1 ( U n cos S D S D
np
x sinh
np
H . ~39!
S D S DG
n52,4,... L L
mp mp
6l sin x sinh H In Eqs. ~38! and ~39! we have on the left-hand side a func-
L L
tion of x and on the right side its expansion in a series of
671 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 66, No. 8, August 1998 Moelter et al. 671
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nal. But sin(npx/L) and cos(mpx/L) ~with n even and m odd! through order l 2 , which is certainly adequate for comparison
are not. These functions are orthogonal on the interval with most experimental results.
0<x<2L, but are not orthogonal on the interval 0<x<L.
This is another unusual feature of this simple Hall effect
problem. The nonorthogonality of the basis functions results G. Solution to any order in l
from the boundary conditions Eqs. ~16! and ~17!. We must
be careful in evaluating the expansion coefficients. The solution to any order in l may be obtained by itera-
~To understand the nonorthogonality an analogy might be tion with Eqs. ~40! and ~41!. A more systematic approach is
helpful. Consider writing a vector in terms of a particular set as follows. Let T denote a vector formed from the T m , and U
SD SD
of nonorthogonal basis vectors and then determining the a vector formed from the U n :
components. Let a vector in the plane, A, be written in terms
of a pair of unit vectors u and v which are at an angle a. We T1 0
can write A5A u u 1A v v . To find the coefficient we take the 0 U2
dot product of A with the appropriate basis vector. For ex- T3 0
ample to find A u we have u A5A u u u 1A v u v 5A u T[ , U[ . ~44!
0 U4
1A v cos a. We do not get just the coefficient A u ;A v is now T5 0
mixed in as well. The presence of the other coefficient is due A A
to the lack of orthogonality. For the usual case with orthogo-
nal basis vectors a 5 p /2 and the second term vanishes.! Then Eqs. ~40! and ~41! may be written
Multiply Eq. ~38! by cos(m8px/L) and integrate from x T5T0 1QU, ~45!
50 to x5L, with the result
U5VT, ~46!
4V 0 Ll
T m5 2 where the components of T0 are
H
p Hm 2 cosh~ m p H/L !
S D
4V 0 Ll
4l npH n for m odd
2
p cosh~ m p H/L ! (
n52,4,...
U n cosh
L n 2 2m 2
. T 0m 5 p Hm cosh~ m p H/L !
2 2
~47!
0 otherwise.
~40!
The matrix elements of Q are
Multiply Eq. ~39! by cos(n8px/L) and integrate from x50 to
Q mn
H
x5L to obtain
U n5
24l
p sinh~ n p H/L ! (
m51,3,...
T m sinh S D
mpH
L
m
m 2n 2
2 .
4l cosh~ n p H/L ! n
5 p cosh~ m p H/L ! n 2m
2 2 for m odd and n even
~41! 0 otherwise,
These are our conditions on the coefficients, T m and U n . ~48!
Note that they involve coupled infinite sums. The odd coef- and the matrix elements of V are
ficients, T m , are expressed in terms of the even ones, U n ,
and vice versa. This results from the failure of our basis V nm
H
functions to be orthogonal.
24l sinh~ m p H/L ! m
The solution for the potential V(x,y) is therefore given by for m odd and n even
Eq. ~36! with T m and U n determined by Eqs. ~40! and ~41!. 5 p sinh~ n p H/L ! m 2n 2
2
0 otherwise.
~49!
F. Solution to order l 2
Substituting Eq. ~46! into Eq. ~45!, we have
For typical metals in experimental situations9 l T5T0 1QVT ~50!
'0.005 0.1. This suggests that Eqs. ~40! and ~41! can be
solved iteratively. Looking at Eq. ~40! we see that to first or
order in l we need only the first term. The second term has ~ I2QV ! T5T0 , ~51!
an explicit l and depends on the U n , all of which involve l.
where I is the identity matrix. Thus the solution for T is
Therefore, to first order in l the T m are
T5 ~ I2QV ! 21 T0 , ~52!
4V 0 Ll
T m. 2 . ~42! T5 ~ I1QV1 ~ QV ! 1 ~ QV ! 1 ! T .
2 3 0
~53!
p Hm cosh~ m p H/L !
2
Substituting Eq. ~42! into Eq. ~41!, we find Now, as Eqs. ~48! and ~49! show, both Q and V are propor-
tional to l. Equation ~47! shows that T0 is also proportional
216V 0 Ll 2 tanh~ m p H/L !
U n.
p H sinh~ n p H/L !
3 (
m51,3,... m ~ m 2 2n 2 !
. ~43! to l. Hence T only contains elements with odd powers of l.
And thus, by Eq. ~46!, U contains only even powers of l.
The truncated solution ~to order l 2 ! given above, with the
The potential V(x,y) is therefore given by Eq. ~36! with T m
T m and U n given by Eqs. ~42! and ~43! is equivalent to
and U n given by Eqs. ~42! and ~43!. This solution, with the
coefficients cut off as in Eqs. ~42! and ~43!, is correct T.T0 , ~54!
672 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 66, No. 8, August 1998 Moelter et al. 672
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Fig. 4. Equipotential curves for the upper portion of the sample; this is an
enlargement of Fig. 3 with the same parameters. Top to bottom the contours
shown correspond to V50.99,0.98,0.97,... .
V. NUMERICAL RESULTS 1 np
1
r ( Un
n52,4,... L
sin~ n p x/L ! sinh~ n p y/L ! , ~56!
To get a physical sense for our solution we evaluate the
potential and the current density numerically. The solution is V0
given by Eq. ~36! and the expressions for the coefficients, T n J y 52
and U m , are given by Eqs. ~52! and ~46!, respectively. As Hr
the coefficients are infinite in number we truncated the vec- 1 mp
tors by taking 20 elements in both T and U and the corre- 2
r ( Tm
m51,3,... L
cos~ m p x/L ! sinh~ m p y/L !
sponding Q and V were 20320 matrices. The sums in Eq.
~36! went to m519 and n520, respectively. Reasonable val- 1 np
ues of the parameters were chosen to show representative 2
r (
n52,4,...
Un
L
cos~ n p x/L ! cosh~ n p y/L ! .
behavior. In what follows we let l50.2, V 0 51, H51, and
L51. These last three parameters just set the scale and are in ~57!
arbitrary units. It is possible to perform two easy tests to verify that J as
Equipotential curves, V5const, for the conductor are calculated is consistent with the original boundary condi-
shown in Fig. 3 for V51,0.95,...,20.95,21. For the case of tions.
673 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 66, No. 8, August 1998 Moelter et al. 673
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First, and most obviously, J x vanishes at x50 and x5L.
This is consistent with the boundary condition illustrated by
Fig. 2~b!.
Second, we shall show that at y56H, J x 52lJ y . This
means that at the top or bottom edge, the current makes an
angle u H 5tan21 l with the normal to the boundary, as
shown in Fig. 2~c!. That this condition is met by Eqs. ~56!
and ~57! is not immediately obvious. Therefore, differentiate
Eq. ~37! with respect to x and divide by r to obtain
05
V 0l
1 F S D S D
1
r H m51,3,... r (
Tm
mp
L
2sin
mp
L
x cosh
mp
L
H
6l cos S D S DG mp
L
x sinh
mp
L
H
1 ( F S D S D
n52,4,...
1
r
Un
np
L
7sin
np
L
x sinh
np
L
H
1l cos S D S DG np
L
x cosh
np
L
H . ~58!
l np
3sinh~ m p H/L ! 1
r ( Un
n52,4,... L
3cos~ n p x/L ! cosh~ n p H/L ! . ~59!
Comparing Eq. ~59! with Eq. ~57! evaluated at y56H, we
see indeed that
J x ~ x,6H ! 52lJ y ~ x,6H ! ~60! Fig. 5. Vector field of the current density on a uniform grid. The arrows
indicate relative magnitude and direction. The three solid lines indicate flow
for all x. Thus all across the top boundary, the current enters lines and correspond to the mean path of a charge. ~The flow line is every-
at an angle u H from the normal. where tangent to the local J.! Calculated as described in the text with l
It is worthwhile to note one final point about the y com- 50.2, V 0 51, H51, L51.
ponent of the current. Integrating Eq. ~57! across a horizontal
section gives the net current in the y direction:
indicated by the length. Along the top edge the magnitude of
I y 5t E0
L
J y dx5
2V 0 Lt
rH
, ~61!
the current varies with position x; however, the current en-
ters the sample with the same angle everywhere along the
top and leaves with the same angle everywhere along the
where t is the thickness of the conducting plate. This is just bottom. Notice that this implies that more charge enters the
the current we would expect in the absence of a magnetic upper left than the upper right. Correspondingly, more
field. This is why the standard elementary treatments, which charge leaves the lower right than the lower left. Note that
ignore the existence of a transverse current, nevertheless ob- there is an overall flow of charge from left to right. Also
tain reasonable behavior. Although the current is not every- shown are three streamlines. These flow lines are every-
where in the y direction, the net y current does not depend where tangent to the local J and correspond to paths of in-
on the magnetic field. dividual charges. Charge entering along the left edge contin-
To obtain numerical results for the current density we use ues straight down to the bottom. Charge entering in the
the same procedure for determining the coefficients T m and central portion of the top edge follows a curved path with a
net transport in the x direction. The amount of net left to
U n as described above for the potential calculation. The
right deflection is the greatest for charges entering at the
same parameters were also used, l50.2, V 0 51, H51, and
center of the top edge.
L51. In addition we have let r 51. ~This just sets the overall
scale and we are interested in relative behavior.! We evaluate
VII. CONCLUSION
Eqs. ~56! and ~57! with the coefficients T m and U n given by
Eqs. ~52! and ~46!. In Fig. 5 we show the vector field for the Most textbooks of electromagnetic theory warn the reader
current density on a uniform grid of points. The direction of that if one abandons the standard classes of boundary condi-
the current density, J, at a point is determined by the x and y tions ~Dirichlet, Neumann, or mixed!, the solubility of
components. The relative magnitude of the current density is Laplaces equation is no longer a foregone conclusion. How-
674 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 66, No. 8, August 1998 Moelter et al. 674
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ever, physically plausible examples of nonstandard problems
appear to be rather few in number. In this paper we have
presented a solution to a nonstandard boundary value prob-
]V~0!
]x
U x50,L
50,
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
]V~2!
]x
U x50,L
5
]V~1!
]y
U x50,L
,... .
We thank Alan Thorndike and Fred Slee for stimulating Notice that, for each order in l, the derivative at the left and
discussions. We are grateful for suggestions by an anony- right boundaries, ] V/ ] x, is now a known function of y,
mous reviewer which have improved the clarity of the pre- given in terms of the derivative of the solution at the previ-
sentation. ous order.
V (0) (x,y) solves Laplaces equation subject to the bound-
ary conditions
APPENDIX I: REDUCTION OF THE PROBLEM TO V ~ 0 ! ~ x,6H ! 56V 0 ~ Dirichlet on top and bottom! ,
~67!
U
AN INFINITE NUMBER OF PROBLEMS OF
STANDARD TYPE ]V~0!
50 ~ Neumann on left and right sides! .
]x x50,L
Because our boundary-value problem is not of standard
type, it is not immediately obvious from a mathematical This can be done by inspection and yields V (0) (x,y)
point of view why it should be soluble. It is therefore worth 5V 0 y/H. Note this is just the l50 part of our solution, Eq.
investigating the relation between our problem and problems ~36!.
of the standard type. To do so, we shall expand the potential V (1) (x,y) solves Laplaces equation subject to the bound-
in powers of the parameter l and then successively solve it ary conditions
to each order. Our problem then reduces to an infinite set of
standard problems where the potential or its normal de- V ~ 1 ! ~ x,6H ! 50 ~ Dirichlet on top and bottom!
rivative is known on the boundaries. Essentially one solves
the problem to some order in l and uses that solution as
input for the next higher order.
]V~1!
]x
U x50,L
5
]V~0!
]y
U x50,L
~ Neumann on left and right sides!
F G
This may be compared with the order-l terms of the solution
]V~0! ]V~1! ]V~2! given above, in Eqs. ~36! and ~42!. Denote the order-l part
1l 1l 2 1
]x ]x ]x of this solution lV 1 (x,y). Then from Eq. ~36! we have
S D
x50,L
5l
]V
]yF1l
]V
]y
~0!
1l 2
]V
]y
1
~1! ~2!
G . ~64! V 1 ~ x,y ! 5
V0
H
x2
L
2
S D S D
x50,L
mp mp
From Eq. ~63! we equate the coefficients of successive 1 ( T ~m1 ! cos L
x cosh
L
y ,
powers of l on each side to obtain m51,3,...
~71!
V ~ 0 ! ~ x,6H ! 56V 0 ,
where the T (1)
m are as given by Eq. ~42!:
~1!
V ~ x,6H ! 50, ~65! 4V 0 L
T ~m1 ! 5 .
p Hm cosh~ m p H/L !
2 2
V ~ 2 ! ~ x,6H ! 50,... .
As Eqs. ~69! and ~71! do not look much alike, it is worth-
Matching powers of l in Eq. ~64! we see while to show that they are exactly equivalent.
675 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 66, No. 8, August 1998 Moelter et al. 675
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To see this, let us perform the following expansions. Ex-
pand sinh@m8p(x2L/2)/2H # from Eq. ~69! in terms of the
functions cos(mpx/L), on the interval 0<x<L, where m
51,3,5,... :
sinh F S DG
m 8p
2H
x2
L
2
52
8m 8 LH
p (
m51,3,...
cosh~ m 8 p L/4H !
m 8 L 14m H
2 2 2 2 cos
mp
L
x . S D
~72!
Similarly, expanding x2L/2 from Eq. ~71! on the interval
0<x<L in terms of the same cos(mpx/L) yields
x2
L
2
4L
52 2
p (
m51,3,...
1
m2
cos
mp
LS D
x . ~73!
cosh S D
mp
L
y 5cosh
mpH
L S DF 11
16m 2 H 2
p
~ 21 ! ~ m 8 11 ! /2
3 ( m 8 ~ m 8 2 L 2 14m 2 H 2 !
Fig. 6. Specially chosen parallelogram geometry for the Hall effect as de-
scribed in Appendix II. The force triangle corresponding to Eq. ~5! is shown
8
m 51,3,...
DG
on all four boundaries.
3cos S m 8p
2H
y . ~74!
If we substitute Eqs. ~73! and ~74! into Eq. ~71! we obtain Note that now the triangle of forces takes the same orien-
tation on all four boundaries. This means that the boundary
64V 0 LH ~ 21 ! ~ m 8 11 ! /2 condition for edges 3 and 4 is now E x 50. We must solve
V 1 ~ x,y ! 5
p3 ( (
m51,3,... m 8 51,3,... m 8 ~ m 8 2 L 2 14m 2 H 2 ! Laplaces equation subject to the boundary conditions
S D S D
V ~ x,H ! 5V 0 ~edge 1! ~76!
mp m 8p
3cos x cos y . ~75! V ~ x,2H ! 52V 0 ~edge 2! ~77!
L 2H
And if we substitute Eq. ~72! into Eq. ~69!, we obtain an ]V
50 ~edges 3 and 4!. ~78!
expression for V (1) (x,y) which is identical to the right side ]x
of Eq. ~75!. Thus Eq. ~69! is indeed equivalent to the first-
This is not a problem of the standard type, but in this case
order part of Eq. ~36!.
the solution is trivial:
The sequence of problems beginning with Eqs. ~67! and
~68! may be continued to whatever order is necessary. This V0
reduces our original problem ~posed in Sec. III! to an infinite V ~ x,y ! 5 y ~79!
H
set of standard problems with mixed boundary
conditions.10 From a mathematical point of view, this ex- everywhere inside the parallelogram. The equipotentials are
plains why our nonstandard problem should indeed have a horizontal lines.
stable, unique solution. From a practical point of view, how- From Eqs. ~8! and ~9!,
ever, the solution of this problem by reduction to a sequence lV 0
of standard problems is infinitely more tedious! J x5 ~80!
H r ~ 11l 2 !
APPENDIX II: ACHIEVING A UNIFORM CURRENT 2V 0
DENSITY J y5 . ~81!
H r ~ 11l 2 !
The complexity of the potential problem is drastically re- Thus J is everywhere constant and parallel to edge 3. The
duced if we adopt a different geometry. Let the conducting magnitude of J is
plate be a parallelogram, as in Fig. 6. Two edges ~1 and 2!
are parallel to the x axis. The other two edges ~3 and 4! make V0
an angle with the y axis that is equal to the Hall angle u H J5 . ~82!
H r A11l 2
5tan21 l5tan21(B0/rnq). Thus the geometry of the sample
must be preselected to match the material properties ~r and The combination 2H A11l 2 is, of course, just the slant
n) and the externally imposed magnetic field (B 0 ). height of the parallelogram, i.e., the length of edge 3, which
676 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 66, No. 8, August 1998 Moelter et al. 676
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158.42.28.33 On: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 12:36:26
is the actual distance that a charge must travel through the the boundary, see Daniel Zwillinger, Handbook of Differential Equations
material. ~Academic, San Diego, 1989!, p. 2.
4
This derivation can be found in Paul Lorrain, Dale R. Corson, and Fran-
The total current I is obtained by multiplying J by the
cois Lorrain, Electromagnetic Fields and Waves ~Freeman, San Francisco,
cross-sectional area of the sample ~taken perpendicular to J!, 1988!, 3rd ed., p. 408, and Niel W. Ashcroft and N. David Mermin, Solid
tL cos uH5tL/A11l 2 . Thus State Physics ~Saunders College Press, Philadelphia, 1976!, pp. 1114.
5
See Ref. 2, p. 24, and Gregory H. Wannier, Elements of Solid State Theory
tLV 0
I5 , ~83! ~Cambridge U.P., New York, 1959!, p. 195.
H r ~ 11l 2 ! 6
The force triangle is discussed by A. B. Pippard, Magnetoresistance in
Metals ~Cambridge U.P., New York, 1989!, p. 4.
which may be compared to Eq. ~61!. Although the surface 7
The following treatments, which are typical, explicitly assume that the
areas of the plates shown in Figs. 1 and 6 are the same current flow is one dimensional. ~This is a reasonable assumption for small
(2HL), the direction of current flow in Fig. 6 produces an magnetic fields and long thin samples.! P. M. Fishbane, S. Gasiorowicz,
effective increase in length, and a decrease in width, of the and S. T. Thornton, Physics for Scientists and Engineers ~Prentice Hall,
conductor. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1996!, 2nd ed., pp. 795796; Charles Kittel, Intro-
So, another way to express the limitations of the tradi- duction to Solid State Physics ~Wiley, New York, 1996!, 7th ed., pp.
tional elementary treatment is to say that it blurs the distinc- 164166; Richard H. Bube, Electrons in Solids ~Academic, New York,
tion between the geometries of Figs. 1 and 6. In the limit of 1992!, 3rd ed., pp. 196199.
8
long, thin samples and low magnetic fields the two are ap- See, for example, Philip M. Morse and Herman Feshbach, Methods of
proximately the same. It is possible that the geometry of Fig. Theoretical Physics ~McGrawHill, New York, 1953!; Ian N. Sneddon,
Mixed Boundary Value Problems in Potential Theory ~Wiley, New York,
6 may have some utility in experimental applications.
1966!; George Arfken, Mathematical Methods for Physicists ~Academic,
1 San Diego, 1985!, 3rd ed.
The Hall Effect and Its Applications, edited by C. L. Chien and C. R. 9
See Charles Kittel, in Ref. 7. For copper ~pp. 24 and 160!: q51.60
Westgate ~Plenum, New York, 1976!.
2
E. H. Putley, The Hall Effect and Semiconductor Physics ~Dover, New 310219 C, n58.4531028 m23, r 51.7031028 V m, so l54.35
York, 1968!. 31023 B 0 with B 0 in tesla. So for a typical field of roughly 120 T we get
3
See J. D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics ~Wiley, New York, 1975!, l'531023 1021 .
10
2nd ed., pp. 42, 121. Mixed can also refer to the case when a linear A technical issue remains in the question of convergence for the series on
combination of the potential and its normal derivative is specified along the right-hand side of Eq. ~62!.
677 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 66, No. 8, August 1998 Moelter et al. 677
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158.42.28.33 On: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 12:36:26