Wigner Crystal, Electron Chain, and Charge Density Wave in Strong Magnetic Fields

Abstract

The ground state of the many-electron system in strong magnetic fields is investigated from low to high density region using a variational formalism. It is argued that the anisotropic Wigner crystal at low densities is gradually transformed into an assembly of chain structures as the density is increased and overlap of wave functions along the magnetic field becomes appreciable. When the density is increased further the exchange interaction becomes important along every direction of the space. Even in that case the ground state is shown to be a charge-density-wave state in marked contrast to the case without magnetic fields. Application of the result to impure semiconductors and astrophysical systems is discussed.