Abstract
We used exact diagonalization of small clusters and exact results in various limits to determine the phase diagram and the critical exponents of the one dimensional (1D) $U-V$ model at quarter-filling. We found an instability of the Luttinger liquid to a charge-density wave (CDW) insulator across a boundary going from ($U$,$V$) =($+\infty$,$2t$) to ($4t$,$+\infty$). In the metallic phase, the dominant fluctuations are superconducting if $V$ is large enough and spin-density wave (SDW) otherwise. In the latter case, the critical exponent $\alpha$ of the momentum distribution does not exceed 9/16. The relevance of these results to 1D organic conductors is discussed.