We study the ground state of a nematic phase of the two-dimensional electron gas at filling fraction $\nu = 1/2$ using a variational wavefunction having Jastrow pair-correlations of the form $\Pi_{ i < j}(z_i-z_j)^2$ and an elliptical Fermi sea. Using the Fermi hypernetted chain approximation we find that below a critical value of the broken symmetry parameter, the nematic phase is energetically favorable as compared to the isotropic state for the second excited Landau level. We also find that below a critical value of the layer ``thickness'' parameter $\lambda$ (and in the actual materials) the quantum nematic is energetically favorable relative to the stripe ordered Wigner crystal phase.
Categories: cond-mat.mes-hall cond-mat.str-el