Liquid-Crystal State of $\nu=1/m$ Quantum Hall Effects

TL;DR

This paper introduces variational wave functions indicating that at certain fractional quantum Hall states, electrons condense into a liquid-crystal phase with lower energy than traditional uniform liquid states.

Contribution

It proposes new variational ground and excited state wave functions demonstrating a liquid-crystal phase at fractional filling factors, differing from prior uniform liquid models.

Findings

Lower ground-state energy for m=1,3,5 compared to Laughlin states

Evidence of liquid-crystal condensation at fractional quantum Hall states

New variational wave functions for these phases

Abstract

At filling factor $\nu=1/m$, $m$ odd integer, I present variational ground-state and excited-state wave functions, of two-dimensional electron system with homogeneous ion background, that show the condensation into a liquid-crystal state. For $m=1, 3, 5$, the ground-state energy per electron is substantially lower than the Laughlin one, for uniform liquid state.