  We discuss the quantum phase transition between a quantum nematic metallic
state to an electron metallic smectic state in terms of an order-parameter
theory coupled to fermionic quasiparticles. Both commensurate and
incommensurate smectic (or stripe) cases are studied. Close to the quantum
critical point (QCP), the spectrum of fluctuations of the nematic phase has
low-energy ``fluctuating stripes''. We study the quantum critical behavior and
find evidence that, contrary to the classical case, the gauge-type of coupling
between the nematic and smectic is irrelevant at this QCP. The collective modes
of the electron smectic (or stripe) phase are also investigated. The effects of
the low-energy bosonic modes on the fermionic quasiparticles are studied
perturbatively, for both a model with full rotational symmetry and for a system
with an underlying lattice, which has a discrete point group symmetry. We find
that at the nematic-smectic critical point, due to the critical smectic
fluctuations, the dynamics of the fermionic quasiparticles near several points
on the Fermi surface, around which it is reconstructed, are not governed by a
Landau Fermi liquid theory. On the other hand, the quasiparticles in the
smectic phase exhibit Fermi liquid behavior. We also present a detailed
analysis of the dynamical susceptibilities in the electron nematic phase close
to this QCP (the fluctuating stripe regime) and in the electronic smectic
phase.
