Effects of Long Range Electronic Interactions on a One-dimensional Electron System

Abstract

The effects of a long range electronic potential on a one dimensional chain of spinless fermions are investigated by numerical techniques (Exact Diagonalisation of rings with up to 30 sites complemented by finite size analysis) and analytic calculations. Due to a competition between the $2 k_F$ oscillations in the density and the (very slow) log divergence of the long wavelength part of the Coulomb potential, the metallic character of the system is enhanced at intermediate (and up to quite large) lengthscales. Despite some similarities, we found that this quasi-metallic regime is not of the Luttinger Liquid type, as evidenced by strong deviations from predictions of conformal field theory and in agreement with the picture of a (very weakly pinned) Wigner crystal. When the strength of the Coulomb interaction is substancially increased, we observe a smooth cross-over to a strongly localized charge density wave.