An effective field theoretic description of $\nu =1\mathrm{}$ bilayer electron systems stabilized by Coulomb repulsion in a single wide quantum well is examined using renormalization-group techniques. The system is found to undergo a crossover from a low temperature strongly correlated quantum Hall state to a high-temperature compressible state. This picture is used to account for the recent experimental observation of an anomalous transition in bilayer electron systems [T. S. Lay et al., Phys. Rev. B 50, 17 725 (1994)]. An estimate for the crossover temperature is provided, and it is shown that its dependence on electron density is in reasonable agreement with the experiment.

• Received 26 October 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.61.4762