Pomeranchuk instability: symmetry breaking and experimental signatures

We discuss the emergence of symmetry-breaking {\it via} the Pomeranchuk instability from interactions that respect the underlying point-group symmetry. We use a variational mean-field theory to consider a 2D continuum and a square lattice. We describe two experimental signatures: a symmetry-breaking pattern of Friedel oscillations around an impurity; and a structural transition.