Merging of Landau levels in a strongly interacting two-dimensional electron system in silicon.

We show that the merging of the spin- and valley-split Landau levels at the chemical potential is an intrinsic property of a strongly interacting two-dimensional electron system in silicon. Evidence for the level merging is given by available experimental data.

Merging of single-particle levels and non-Fermi-liquid behavior of finite Fermi systems.

We examine the problem of finite Fermi systems having a degenerate single-particle spectrum and show that the Landau approach, applied to such a system, admits the possibility of merging single-particle levels. It is demonstrated that the opportunity for this behavior is widespread in quantum many-body systems. The salient feature of the phenomenon is the occurrence of nonintegral quasiparticle occupation numbers, leading to a radical alteration of the standard quasiparticle picture. Implications of this alteration are considered for nuclear, atomic, and solid-state systems.

Curie law, entropy excess, and superconductivity in heavy fermion metals and other strongly interacting fermi liquids.

Low-temperature thermodynamic properties of strongly interacting Fermi liquids with a fermion condensate are investigated. We demonstrate that the spin susceptibility of these systems exhibits the Curie-Weiss law, and the entropy contains a temperature-independent term. The excessive entropy is released at the superconducting transition, enhancing the specific heat jump deltaC and rendering it proportional to the effective Curie constant. The theoretical results are favorably compared with the experimental data on the heavy-fermion metal CeCoIn5, as well as 3He films.

Superfluid phase transitions in dense neutron matter.

The phase transitions in a realistic system with triplet pairing, dense neutron matter, have been investigated. The spectrum of phases of the 3P2-3F2 model, which adequately describes pairing in this system, is analytically constructed with the aid of a separation method for solving BCS gap equations in states of arbitrary angular momentum. In addition to solutions involving a single value of the magnetic quantum number (and its negative), there exist ten real multicomponent solutions. Five of the corresponding angle-dependent order parameters have nodes, and five do not. In contrast to the case of superfluid 3He, transitions occur between phases with nodeless order parameters.

Phase transitions in nucleonic matter and neutron-star cooling.

A new scenario for neutron-star cooling is suggested by the correspondence between pion condensation, induced by critical spin-isospin fluctuations, and the metal-insulator phase transition in a 2D electron gas. Above the threshold density for pion condensation, the neutron single-particle spectrum acquires an insulating gap that quenches neutron contributions to neutrino production. In the liquid phase just below the transition, the fluctuations play dual roles by (i) creating a multisheeted neutron Fermi surface that extends to low momenta and activates the normally forbidden direct Urca cooling mechanism, and (ii) amplifying the nodeless P-wave neutron superfluid gap while suppressing S-wave pairing. Lighter stars without a pion-condensed core undergo slow cooling, whereas enhanced cooling occurs in heavier stars via direct Urca emission from a thin shell of the interior.