Thermodynamics of a one-dimensional lattice system with long-range interelectron repulsion

The thermodynamic characteristics of one-dimensional lattice electron systems with long-range interelectron interactions are explicated and studied at arbitrary temperature T and pressure P. Only interactions between neighboring particles are taken into account. Electron-electron correlations are found to be controlled only by the ratio P/T, increases in which produce a continuous transition from a weakly nonideal gas to an electron ``crystal'' with filling factor 1/q,q=1,2, . . .. This is a remnant of the devil's staircase which obtains at T=O. It is shown that with a decrease in P the crystal periods, q, increase, the transitions occurring via narrow regions of a liquidlike state. Charge carriers in the ``crystals'' are discrete solitons with a fractional charge e*=±{}e/q. {} 1996 The American Physical Society.