title: Theory of quantum Hall nematics.
abstract: Transport measurements on two-dimensional electron systems in moderate magnetic fields suggest the existence of a spontaneously orientationally ordered, compressible liquid state. We develop and analyze a microscopic theory of such a "quantum Hall nematic" (QHN) phase, predict the existence of a novel, highly anisotropic q(3) density-director mode, find that the T = 0 long-range orientational order is unstable to weak disorder, and compute the tunneling into such a strongly correlated state. This microscopic approach is supported and complemented by a hydrodynamic model of the QHN, which, in the dissipationless limit, reproduces the modes of the microscopic model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Radzihovsky
authors.forename: Alan T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Dorsey