Order parameter suppression in double layer quantum Hall ferromagnets

Double-layer quantum Hall systems at Landau level filling factor $\nu =1$ have a broken symmetry ground state with spontaneous interlayer phase coherence and a gap between symmetric and antisymmetric subbands in the absence of interlayer tunneling. We examine the influence of quantum fluctuations on the spectral function of the symmetric Green’s function, probed in optical absorption experiments (cond-mat/9809373). We find that as the maximum layer separation at which the $\nu =1$ quantum Hall effect occurs is approached, absorption in the lowest Landau level grows in strength. Detailed line shapes for this absorption are evaluated and related to features in the system’s collective excitation spectrum.