  We show how to model the transition between distinct quantum Hall plateaus in
terms of D-branes in string theory. A low energy theory of 2+1 dimensional
fermions is obtained by considering the D3-D7 system, and the plateau
transition corresponds to moving the branes through one another. We study the
transition at strong coupling using gauge/gravity duality and the probe
approximation. Strong coupling leads to a novel kind of plateau transition: at
low temperatures the transition remains discontinuous due to the effects of
dynamical symmetry breaking and mass generation, and at high temperatures is
only partially smoothed out.
