A FIELD-THEORY FOR THE READ OPERATOR

We introduce a new field theory for studying quantum Hall systems. The quantum field is a modified version of the bosonic operator introduce d by Read. In contrast to Read's original work we do not work in the l owest Landau level alone, and this leads to a much simpler formalism. We identify an appropriate canonical conjugate field, and write a Hami ltonian that governs the exact dynamics of our bosonic field operators . We describe a Lagrangian formalism, derive the equations of motion f or the fields and present a family of mean-field solutions. Finally, w e show that these mean field solutions are precisely the Laughlin stat es. We do not, in this work, address the treatment of fluctuations.