A Wigner crystal is an ordered arrangement of electrons stabilized by their mutual repulsion when localization costs sufficiently little kinetic or thermal energy. In a degenerate low-density gas, the Coulomb-to-kinetic energy ratio of an electron gas increases with mean spacing. Classical electrons can also order at large Coulomb-to-thermal coupling, as in electron crystallization on liquid helium. A neutralizing background or confining environment is needed to discuss a stable electron assembly. Dimension, screening and disorder affect the transition.
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