Hybrid phase at the quantum melting of the Wigner crystal

TL;DR

This paper investigates the quantum melting of a 2D Wigner crystal, revealing a new hybrid phase at intermediate densities with mixed liquid-solid characteristics using quantum Monte Carlo methods.

Contribution

It identifies a previously unknown stable hybrid phase during quantum melting, characterized by a unique nodal structure, expanding understanding of phase transitions in 2D electron systems.

Findings

Discovery of a stable hybrid phase at intermediate densities.

The hybrid phase exhibits properties between liquid and solid.

The phase has a nodal structure based on a triangular lattice.

Abstract

We study the quantum melting of the two-dimensional Wigner crystal using a fixed node quantum Monte-Carlo approach. In addition to the two already known phases (Fermi liquid at large density and Wigner crystal at low density), we find a third stable phase at intermediate values of the density. The third phase has hybrid behaviors in between a liquid and a solid. This hybrid phase has the nodal structure of a Slater determinant constructed out of the bands of a triangular lattice.