Lifshitz transitions and crystallization of fully polarized dipolar fermions in an anisotropic two-dimensional lattice

We consider a two-dimensional model of noninteracting chains of spinless fermions weakly coupled via a small interchain hopping and a repulsive interchain interaction. The phase diagram of this model has a surprising feature: an abrupt change in the Fermi surface as the interaction is increased. We study in detail this metanematic transition and show that the well-known 2 1 2 -order Lifshitz transition is the critical end point of this first-order quantum phase transition. Furthermore, in the vicinity of the end point, the order parameter has a nonperturbative BCS-type form. We also study a competing crystallization transition in this model and derive the full phase diagram. This physics can be demonstrated experimentally in dipolar ultracold atomic or molecular gases. In the presence of a harmonic trap, it manifests itself as a sharp jump in the density profile. © 2010 The American Physical Society.