Unconventional density wave (UDW) has been speculated as a possible
electronic ground state in excitonic insulator in 1968. Recent surge of
interest in UDW is partly due to the proposal that the pseudogap phase in high
T_c cuprate superconductors is d-wave density wave (d-DW).
Here we review our recent works on UDW within the framework of mean field
theory. In particular we have shown that many properties of the low temperature
phase (LTP) in alpha-(BEDT-TTF)_2MHg(SCN)_4 with M=K, Rb and Tl are well
characterized in terms of unconventional charge density wave (UCDW). In this
identification the Landau quantization of the quasiparticle motion in a
magnetic field (the Nersesyan effect) plays the crucial role. Indeed the
angular dependent magnetoresistance and the negative giant Nernst effect are
two hallmarks of UDW.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figure