  We introduce a development of next generation quantum theory of atoms in
molecules (NG-QTAIM) for an investigation of the chirality of ethane and
discover a $Q_{\sigma}$ isomer in addition to $S_{\sigma}$ and $R_{\sigma}$
stereoisomers in the stress tensor trajectory $U_{\sigma}$-space. The
$Q_{\sigma}$ isomer is defined to be a 'null-isomer' since the value of the
chirality-helicity function $\approx 0$. The presence of chiral contributions
suggests that steric effects, rather than hyper-conjugation, explain the
staggered geometry of ethane. The steric effects, within the NG-QTAIM
interpretation, are reduced by a factor of two using an applied electric-field
directed down a C-H bond.
