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Motivated by recent reports of nematic order in twisted bilayer graphene(TBG), we investigate the impact of the triangular moir\'e superlattice degreesof freedom on nematicity. In TBG, the nematic order parameter is notIsing-like, as it is the case in tetragonal crystals, but has a 3-state Pottscharacter related to the threefold rotational symmetry ($C_{3z}$) of themoir\'e superlattice. We find that even in the presence of static strain thatexplicitly breaks the $C_{3z}$ symmetry, the system can still undergo anematic-flop phase transition that spontaneously breaks in-plane twofoldrotations. Moreover, elastic fluctuations, manifested as acoustic phonons,mediate a nemato-orbital coupling that ties the orientation of the nematicdirector to certain soft directions in momentum space, rendering thePotts-nematic transition mean-field and first-order. In contrast to the case ofrigid crystals, the Fermi-surface hot-spots associated with these softdirections are maximally coupled to the low-energy nematic fluctuations in thecase of the moir\'e superlattice.

Nematicity with a twist: rotational symmetry breaking in a moir\'e superlattice