A unified theory of the integer and the fractional quantum hall effects

This paper reviews a recent theory which unifies the fractional and the integer quantum Hall effects. In this theory, the electronic correlations that lead to the quantum Hall effect at fractional filling factors are completely analogous to the correlations that are responsible for the quantum Hall effect at integer filling factors. This allows one to understand various properties of the fractional Hall effect by a straightforward analogy with the integer Hall effect.