Hartree-Fock states in the thermodynamic limit

A two-parameter class of single-particle orbitals, giving rise to long-range order in the local (spatial and/or spin) density, is shown to satisfy the full Hartree-Fock (HF) equations for occupied states in the thermodynamic limit. For a $\delta$ interparticle potential, these states are stabler (have lower HF energy) than the usual plane-wave (or trivial) HF solutions, for sufficiently strong coupling and/or high density. Minimization of the energy with respect to the (new) free parameters leads to sometimes gradual (second-order transition) and sometimes abrupt (first-order transition) onset of order, accompanied by a "bifurcation" of the new energy state from the old. The existence of even lower-energy, nontrivial HF states is also mentioned. We discuss the relevance to neutron and nuclear matter, to the Pauling "close-packed spheron" model of nuclei, as well as to the electron-gas problem.