  In a recent experiment, the local current distribution of a two-dimensional
electron gas in the quantum Hall regime was probed by measuring the variation
of the conductance due to local gating. The main experimental finding was the
existence of "hot spots", i.e. regions with high degree of sensitivity to local
gating, whose density increases as one approaches the quantum Hall transition.
However, the direct connection between these "hot spots" and regions of high
current flow is not clear. Here, based on a recent model for the quantum Hall
transition consisting of a mixture of perfect and quantum links, the relation
between the "hot spots" and the current distribution in the sample has been
investigated. The model reproduces the observed dependence of the number and
sizes of "hot spots" on the filling factor. It is further demonstrated that
these "hot spots" are not located in regions where most of the current flows,
but rather, in places where the currents flow both when injected from the left
or from the right. A quantitative measure, the harmonic mean of these currents
is introduced and correlates very well with the "hot spots" positions.
