Wigner Crystallization in Rapidly Rotating 2D Dipolar Fermi Gases

TL;DR

This paper investigates the phase transition between Wigner crystal and Laughlin liquid states in rapidly rotating 2D dipolar Fermi gases, identifying conditions under which the crystal phase is energetically favored and stable.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the Wigner crystal formation, stability, and quantum phase transition in ultracold dipolar fermionic gases under rapid rotation.

Findings

Wigner crystal has lower energy than Laughlin liquid below a critical filling factor

The Wigner crystal remains stable for filling factors less than 1/7

The phase transition depends on confinement in the third dimension

Abstract

We study the competition between the Wigner crystal and the Laughlin liquid states in an ultracold quasi two-dimensional rapidly rotating polarized fermionic dipolar gas, and find that the Wigner crystal has a lower energy below a critical filling factor. We examine the quantum crystal to liquid transition for different confinements in the third direction. Our analysis of the phonon spectra of the Wigner crystal with the account of phonon-phonon interactions also shows the stability of the Wigner crystal for sufficiently low filling factors (\nu <1/7).