Quantum nematic as ground state of a two-dimensional electron gas in a magnetic field

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

Description

We study the ground state of a nematic phase of the two-dimensional electron gas at filling fraction $ν= 1/2$ using a variational wavefunction having Jastrow pair-correlations of the form $Π_{i < j}(z_i-z_j)^2$ and an elliptical Fermi sea. Using the Fermi hypernetted chain approximation we find that below a critical value of the broken symmetry parameter, the nematic phase is energetically favorable as compared to the isotropic state for the second excited Landau level. We also find that below a critical value of the layer ``thickness'' parameter $λ$ (and in the actual materials) the quantum nematic is energetically favorable relative to the stripe ordered Wigner crystal phase.
4 two-column pages, 4 figures

Citation

Collections