Interaction-Driven Spectrum Reconstruction in Bilayer Graphene

The nematic phase transition in electronic liquids, driven by Coulomb interactions, represents a new class of strongly correlated electronic ground states. We studied suspended samples of bilayer graphene, annealed so that it achieves very high quasiparticle mobilities (greater than 10(6) square centimers per volt-second). Bilayer graphene is a truly two-dimensional material with complex chiral electronic spectra, and the high quality of our samples allowed us to observe strong spectrum reconstructions and electron topological transitions that can be attributed to a nematic phase transition and a decrease in rotational symmetry. These results are especially surprising because no interaction effects have been observed so far in bilayer graphene in the absence of an applied magnetic field.