Sergey Kravchenko, Northeastern University
The spin susceptibility of strongly correlated electrons in a low-disorder 2D electron system exhibits a sharp increase tending to a divergence at a finite electron density. Surprisingly, this behavior is due to the divergence of the effective mass rather than that of the g-factor. Our results provide clear evidence for an interaction-induced phase transition to a new phase that may be a precursor phase or a direct transition to the long sought-after Wigner solid.