The conventional interpretation of the recent magneto-oscillation experiments in underdoped Cuprates, requires that there be a state of altered translational symmetry in the pseudogap state which is not supported by structural and Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments. I show here that the observed oscillations may be reconciled with the conclusion arrived in ARPES experiments that the fermi-surface, suitably defined, has the shape of four arcs which shrink to four points as $T \to 0$. Experiments, including infrared absorption in a magnetic field, are suggested to distinguish between such a state from that obtained by the conventional interpretation of the magneto-oscillations.
We comment on transport experiments in underdoped LaSrCuO in the non-superconducting phase. The temperature dependence of the resistance strongly resembles what is expected from standard localization theory. However this theory fails, when comparing with experiments in more detail.
A microscopic basis is provided for the spin-fermion model used to describe the physics of the underdoped cuprates. In this way, a spin-fermion coupling is shown to take care of the local no double occupancy constraint, which is ignored in the weakly coupled regime. This ingredient is proved to be essential to capture the physics of strong correlations, however. We elaborate further on our recent proposal for the strong-coupling version of the spin-fermion model that may prove to be the correct starting point to deal with the strong correlation physics displayed by the underdoped cuprates.
Recent experiments have addressed the nature of the charge order seen in underdoped cuprates. Here, I show that x-ray absorption and linear dichroism are an excellent probe of such order. Ab-initio calculations reveal that a d-wave charge density wave order involving the oxygen ions is a much better description of the data than alternate models.
The Mori's memory function approach to spin dynamics in doped antiferromagnetic insulator combined with the assumption of temperature independent static spin correlations and constant collective mode damping leads to w/T scaling in a broad range. The theory involving a nonuniversal scaling parameter is used to analyze recent inelastic neutron scattering results for underdoped cuprates. Adopting modified damping function also the emerging central peak in low-doped cuprates at low temperatures can be explained within the same framework.
A simple model is proposed as a possible explanation for the checkerboard pattern of modulations in the hole density observed in recent tunneling experiments on underdoped cuprates. Two assumptions are made; first, an enhanced hole density near the acceptor dopants and secondly short range correlations in the positions of these dopants caused by their electrostatic and anisotropic elastic interactions. Together these can lead to a structure factor in qualitative agreement with experiment.
We present the theory of the leading edge gap in the normal state of underdoped high-$T_c$ materials. The consideration is based on a magnetic scenario for cuprates. We show that as doping decreases, the increasing interaction with paramagnons gives rise to a near destruction of the Fermi liquid and this in turn yields precursors to $d-$wave pairing. We argue that the leading edge gap at $\sim 30 meV$ and a broad maximum in the spectral function at $\sim150 meV$ are byproducts of the same physical phenomenon.
The single particle spectral function for the normal state of underdoped high $T_c$ cuprates is studied within the slave particle framework. We find that the presence of a massless dynamical gauge field - a direct consequence of the quantum order - explains the broad, but not totally incoherent, line-shapes observed in experiments. The issue of the negative anomalous dimension of a recently proposed gauge invariant single particle amplitude is also considered. We show how the anomalous behavior of the single particle amplitude can be incorporated within the slave particle approach and, thus re…
The origin of the Kerr rotation observed in the pseudogap phase of cuprates has been the subject of much speculation. Recently, it has been proposed that this rotation might be due to chiral charge order. Here, I investigate whether such order can be observed by x-ray natural circular dichroism (XNCD). Several types of charge order were considered, and they can give rise to an XNCD signal depending on the stacking of the order along the c-axis.
We show that the breakdown of time-reversal invariance, confirmed by the recent polar Kerr effect measurements in the cuprates, implies the existence of an anomalous Nernst effect in the pseudogap phase of underdoped cuprate superconductors. Modeling the time-reversal-breaking ordered state by the chiral d-density-wave state, we find that the magnitude of the Nernst effect can be sizable even at temperatures much higher than the superconducting transition temperature. These results imply that the experimentally found Nernst effect at the pseudogap temperatures may be due to the chiral d-densit…
We consider thermal evolution of the spectral function A(Omega, T) in underdoped cuprates at T >Tc. We find that in the strong coupling limit, the fermionic Green's function near (0,π) behaves as G^{-1} (Omega) ~ \sqrt{Omega} in the whole frequency range relevant to photoemission experiments. The analysis of the pairing problem with this form of G yields a leading edge gap in A(Ω) and a broad maximum at larger frequencies. We find that classical fluctuations predominantly add a frequency independent term to G^{-1} (Omega). This term destroys the leading edge gap at T =T* (k)$which has a maximu…
Based on recently proposed U(1)xSU(2) Chern-Simons gauge field theory, an interpretation of the transport and magnetic relaxation properties of underdoped cuprates is proposed, taking into account the short range antiferromagnetic order. The interplay of the doping-dependent spin gap (explicitly derived by us) effect and dissipation due to gauge fluctuations gives rise to a crossover from metallic to insulating behavior of conductivity as temperature decreases, in semi-quantitative agreement with experimental data. For the same reason the magnetic relaxation rate shows a maximum nearby. Variou…
We present a theory for the lightly doped t-J model which is of possible relevance for the normal state of underdoped cuprates. Starting from an arbitrary dimer covering of the plane an exact representation of the t-J Hamiltonian in terms of bond bosons and fermions can be derived. Since all dimer coverings must give identical results for observable quantities we construct an approximate but translationally invariant Hamiltonian by averaging the bond particle Hamiltonian over all possible dimer coverings. Treating the resulting Hamiltonian in mean-field approximation we find fermi pockets cent…
We reply to the criticism from the authors of arXiv:1502.02782 of the spin-fluctuation scenario for charge order in the cuprates. The authors of of arXiv:1502.02782 argued that spin-fluctuation exchange cannot give rise to charge order with observed momentum $(Q, 0)/(0, Q)$ due to the absence of nesting for a half of fermions involved. We explicitly show the instability towards charge order exists even in the "worst-case" scenario of anti-nesting for a half of fermions.
We present a theory of magnetic (Ni) and nonmagnetic (Zn) impurities substituted into planar Cu sites in the normal state of underdoped cuprates exhibiting a spin gap. Both types of impurities induce magnetic moments on neighboring Cu sites. In the case of Ni these moments partially screen the inherent impurity spin, resulting in an effective S=1/2 moment. The characteristic Kondo scale is found to have a power-law dependence on the coupling constant. We investigate the spatial shape of the impurity-induced spin density, taking into account the presence of short-ranged AF correlations, and cal…
We propose a new form of inhomogeneous phases consisting of out-of-phase staggered flux domains separated by diagonal charged domain walls centered on bonds or on sites. Remarkably, such domain flux phases are spin-rotationally symmetric and exhibit cone-like quasiparticle dispersion as well as incommensurate order of orbital currents. Such features are consistent with the pseudogap behavior and the diagonal stripes observed experimentally in lightly doped cuprates. A renormalized mean field theory shows that such solutions are competitive candidates within the $t$--$J$ model.
We consider the Nernst effect in the normal state of the underdoped cuprate superconductors, where recent quantum oscillation experiments have indicated the existence of Fermi surface pockets and quasiparticle ambipolarity in the excitation spectrum. Using an ambipolar d-density wave model for the pseudogap, we predict a peak in the Nernst coefficient with decreasing temperature below the pseudogap temperature. The existence of the peak and its sign, which we predict to be the same as that due to mobile vortices in a superconductor, result from the dominance of the electron pocket at low tempe…
It was proposed that the $id_{x^2-y^2}$ density-wave state (DDW) may be responsible for the pseudogap behavior in the underdoped cuprates. Here we show that the admixture of a small $d_{xy}$ component to the DDW state breaks the symmetry between the counter-propagating orbital currents of the DDW state and, thus, violates the macroscopic time-reversal symmetry. This symmetry breaking results in a non-zero polar Kerr effect, which has recently been observed in the pseudogap phase.
The theoretical description of the anomalous properties of the pseudogap phase in the underdoped region of the cuprate phase diagram lags behind the progress in spectroscopic and other experiments. A phenomenological ansatz, based on analogies to the approach to Mott localization at weak coupling in lower dimensional systems, has been proposed by Yang, Rice and Zhang [Phys. Rev. B 73 (2006),174501]. This ansatz has had success in describing a range of experiments. The motivation underlying this ansatz is described and the comparisons to experiment are reviewed. Implications for a more microsco…
The hour-glass-like dispersion of spin excitations is a common feature of underdoped cuprates. It was qualitatively explained by the random phase approximation based on various ordered states with some phenomenological parameters; however, its origin remains elusive. Here, we present a numerical study of spin dynamics in the $t$-$J$ model using the variational Monte Carlo method. This parameter-free method satisfies the no double-occupancy constraint of the model and thus provides a better evaluation on the spin dynamics with respect to various mean-field trial states. We conclude that the low…
We present a theory of magnetic (S=1) Ni and nonmagnetic Zn impurities in underdoped cuprates. Both types of impurities are shown to induce S=1/2 moments on Cu sites in the proximity of the impurity, a process which is intimately related to the spin gap phenomenon in cuprates. Below a characteristic Kondo temperature, the Ni spin is partially screened by the Cu moments, resulting in an effective impurity spin S=1/2. We further analyze the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasiya-Yosida-type response of planar Cu spins to a polarization of the effective impurity moments and derive expressions for the correspondi…
The recently discovered coexistence of incommensurate antiferromagnetic neutron scattering peaks and commensurate resonance in underdoped YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+x}$ is calling for an explanation. Within the t-J model, the doping and energy dependence of the spin dynamics of the underdoped bilayer cuprates in the normal state is studied based on the fermion-spin theory by considering the bilayer interactions. Incommensurate peaks are found at $[(1\pmδ)π,π] $ and $[π,(1\pmδ)π]$ at low energies with $δ$ initially increasing with doping at low dopings and then saturating at higher dopings. These incom…
We analyze incommensurate charge-density-wave (CDW) and pair-density-wave (PDW) orders with transferred momenta $(\pm Q,0)$/$(0,\pm Q)$ in underdoped cuprates within the spin-fermion model. Both orders appear due to exchange of spin fluctuations before magnetic order develops.We argue that the ordered state with the lowest energy has non-zero CDW and PDW components with the same momentum. Such a state breaks $C_4$ lattice rotational symmetry, time-reversal symmetry, and mirror symmetries. We argue that the feedback from CDW/PDW order on fermionic dispersion is consistent with ARPES data. We di…
Semiconducting-like low-temperature in-plane resistivity indicates that there are no remnants of superconductivity above the resistive phase transition at T > Tc in underdoped cuprates. The model with the chemical potential pinned near the mobility edge inside the charge-transfer optical gap describes quantitatively the Nernst effect, thermopower, diamagnetism and the unusual low-temperature resistivity of underdoped cuprates as normal state phenomena above Tc.
We have studied a single vortex with the staggered flux (SF) core based on the SU(2) slave-boson theory of high $T_c$ superconductors. We find that whereas the center in the vortex core is a SF state, as one moves away from the core center, a correlated staggered modulation of the hopping amplitude $χ$ and pairing amplitude $Δ$ becomes predominant. We predict that in this region, the local density-of-states (LDOS) exhibits staggered modulation when measured on the bonds, which may be directly detected by STM experiments.
The coexistence of $π$-flux state and d-wave RVB state is considered in this paper within the slave boson approach. A critical value of doping concentration $δ_c$ is found, below which the coexisting $π$-flux and d-wave RVB state is favored in energy. The pseudo Fermi surface of spinons and the physical electron spectral function are calculated. A clear Fermi-level crossing is found along the (0,0) to ($π$, $π$) direction, but no such crossing is detected along the ($π$, 0) to ($π$, $π$) direction. Also, an energy gap of d-wave symmetry appears at the Fermi level in our calculation. The above …
A mean field SDW analysis of pseudogap in the underdoped cuprates is proposed on the basis of the $t-t^{\prime}-U$ Hubbard model. The prediction of our theory is consistent with the experiment quite well within the uncertainty of the present experimental measurement. Therefore we argue that the pseudogap phenomenon in the underdoped cuprates can be well explained within the mean field approximation.
We study the in-plane resistivity anisotropy in the spin-glass phase of the high-$T_{c}$ cuprates, on the basis of holes moving in a spiral spin background. This picture follows from analysis of the extended $t-J$ model with Coulomb impurities. In the variable-range hopping regime the resistivity anisotropy is found to have a maximum value of around 90%, and it decreases with temperature, in excellent agreement with experiments in La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$. In our approach the transport anisotropy is due to the non-collinearity of the spiral spin state, rather than an intrinsic tendency of the c…
We present a combined study of the angle-resolved-photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and quantum Monte Carlo simulations to propose a novel polaronic metallic state in underdoped cuprates. An approximation scheme is proposed to represent underdoped cuprates away from 1/2 filling, replacing the many-body Hamiltonian by that of a single polaron with effective electron-phonon interaction (EPI), that successfully explains many puzzles such as a large momentum-dependent dichotomy between nodal and anti-nodal directions, and an unconventional doping dependence of ARPES in the underdoped region.
The nodal $d_{x^2-y^2}$ superconducting gap is a hallmark of the cuprate high T$_c$ superconductors. Surprisingly recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of deeply underdoped cuprates revealed a nodeless energy gap which is adhered to the Fermi surface. Importantly this phenomenon is observed for compounds across several different cuprate families. In this letter we propose an exciting possibility, namely the fully gapped state is a topological superconductor.
Rotation of polarization of light on transmission and reflection at materials with time-reversal breaking (Faraday and Kerr effects, respectively) have been studied for over a hundred years. We add to such phenomena by studying optical properties of magneto-chiral states which are loop currents with topological Hall effect. These break time-reversal and are chiral but the product of chirality and time-reversal is preserved. Qualitatively new features arise in reflection and transmission through such a state. This state is shown to be induced in underdoped cuprates given the observed magneto-el…
Fluctuation effects in underdoped cuprates under high fields are examined by trying to fit theoretical results to resistivity and Nernst data in vortex states. The superconducting (SC) fluctuation in underdoped cuprates includes not only the ordinary thermal contribution but also a large amount of quantum dynamical contributions. Together with this, the presence of a SC pseudogap region T_0-T_{c0} increasing with underdoping is found to be the origin of the Nernst coefficient becoming anomalously smaller and the in-plane coherence length {\it apparently} increasing with underdoping.
We discuss the spiral spin density wave model and its application to explain properties of underdoped La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$. We argue that the spiral picture is theoretically well justified in the context of the extended $t-J$ model, and then show that it can explain a number of observed features, such as the location and symmetry of the incommensurate peaks in elastic neutron scattering, as well as the in-plane resistivity anisotropy. A consistent description of the low doping region (below 10% or so) emerges from the spiral formulation, in which the holes show no tendency towards any type …
I review some of the experimental evidence and theoretical arguments that suggest that pseudogap matter is a new form of matter that coexists with coherent electron matter in the normal state and with superconducting matter below the superconducting transition temperature. I describe work in progress on a phenomenological two-fluid description of the evolution of pseudogap behavior that offers an explanation for the unexpectedly simple scaling behavior for the uniform magnetic susceptibility found in the underdoped cuprates and use this to propose a physical picture of the underdoped cuprates …
The dynamical spin susceptibility as relevant for underdoped cuprates is analysed within the memory-function (MeF) approach. A phenomenological damping function combined with a $T$-independent sum rule is used to describe the anomalous normal state and the resonant peak in the superconducting state, in particular its position and its relative intensity to the normal state. The relation with the random-phase approximation is discussed. The MeF method is generalized to the bilayer system in order to compare with inelastic neutron scattering experiments on YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+x}$ which alows also …
We propose that an extension of the exciton concept to doped Mott insulators offers a fruitful insight into challenging issues of the copper oxide superconductors. In our extension, new fermionic excitations called cofermions emerge in conjunction to generalized excitons. The cofermions hybridize with conventional quasiparticles. Then a hybridization gap opens, and is identified as the pseudogap observed in the underdoped cuprates. The resultant Fermi-surface reconstruction naturally explains a number of unusual properties of the underdoped cuprates, such as the Fermi arc and/or pocket formati…
We studied interactions between the coherent excitations on disconnected arcs along a bare Fermi surface (the so-called Fermi arcs (FAs)) seen by angle-resolved photo emission spectroscopy (ARPES) in several underdoped (UD) cuprates and incommensurate charge density wave (IC CDW) ordering at lowering of the temperature.
Angle resolved photoemission data in the pseudogap phase of underdoped cuprates have revealed the presence of a truncated Fermi surface consisting of Fermi arcs. We compare a number of proposed models for the arcs, and find that the one that best models the data is a d-wave energy gap with a lifetime broadening whose temperature dependence is suggestive of fluctuating pairs.
The Josephson coupling between optimally cuprate superconductors separated by a spacer with a finite energy cooperon excitation which contributes to the Josephson coupling strength, is examined. For an underdoped cuprate barrier in its normal state, the YRZ model gives a good description of the temperature dependent enhanced Josephson coupling. A detailed examination of origin of the enhancement shows a significant contribution from the cooperon excitation which is comparable to that from nodal quasiparticles.
We examine the nature of the collective excitations in a strongly anisotropic system of bosons interacting via Coulomb interaction. Such a system has often been used in the past to model the effects of quantum and classical phase fluctuations on the superfluid density of underdoped cuprates. Depending on the anisotropy and the effective strength of the interaction we find four different regimes for the temperature dependence of the superfluid density. Coulomb interaction in underdoped cuprates is argued to be effectively short-ranged, and of order of unity in appropriately defined units.
Within the t-J model, we study the charge transport in underdoped bilayer cuprates by considering the bilayer interaction. Although the bilayer interaction leads to the band splitting in the electronic structure, the qualitative behavior of the charge transport is the same as in the case of single layer cuprates. The conductivity spectrum shows a low-energy peak and the unusual midinfrared band. This midinfrared band is suppressed severely with increasing temperatures, while the resistivity in the heavily underdoped regime is characterized by a crossover from the high temperature metallic-like…
We reconsider transport experiments in strongly anisotropic superconducting cuprates and we find that universal Aslamazov-Larkin (AL) paraconductivity in two dimensions is surprisingly robust even in the underdoped regime below the pseudogap crossover temperature T^*. We also establish that the underlying normal state resistivity in the pseudogap phase is (almost) linear in temperature, with all the deviations being quantitatively accounted by AL paraconductivity. The disappearence of paraconductivity is governed by the disappearence of gaussian pair fluctuations at an energy scale related to …
The memory function approach to spin dynamics in doped antiferromagnetic insulator combined with the assumption of temperature independent static spin correlations and constant collective mode damping leads to omega/T scaling in a broad range. The theory involving a non universal scaling parameter is used to analyze recent inelastic neutron scattering results for underdoped cuprates. Adopting modified damping function also the emerging central peak in low-doped cuprates at low temperatures can be explained within the same framework.
A wave function is proposed for the "$4\times 4$" inhomogeneous structures observed on cuprate superconductors. It is based on the Gutzwiller-RVB technique proposed in recent papers, and consists of a Wigner solid of hole pairs embedded in a sea of d-wave spin singlet pairs. Arguments are given that the nodal quasiparticles may remain unscattered and even superconducting on such a structure.
We present a comparative study of Nernst effect and resistivity in underdoped samples of Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CuO$_{6+δ}$ and La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_4$. The Nernst effect presents a peak in a region of the H-T diagram where resistivity shows a non-metallic temperature dependence. Our results illustrate that the mechanism of dissipation in the mixed state of underdoped cuprates is poorly understood. Large quantum superconducting fluctuations and vanishing vortex viscosity are among suggested explanations for an enhanced Nernst signal close to the superconductor-insulator boundary.
Recent angle resolved photoemission spectrascope (ARPES) experiments on strongly underdoped Bi$_2$Sr$_{2-x}$La$_x$CuO$_{6+δ}$ cuprates have reported an unusual gap in the nodal direction. Transport experiments on these cuprates found variable range hopping behavior observed. These cuprates have both electron and hole doping which has led to proposals that this cuprate is analogous to a partially compensated semiconductors. The nodal gap then corresponds to the Efros-Schklovskii(ES) gap in such semiconductors. We calculate the doping dependence and temperature dependence of a ES gap model and f…
The in-plane resistivity and out-of-plane resistivity of non-superconducting RBCO (R = Y, Tm) and Fe-doped Bi2212 single crystals are discussed. The comparison of electrical transport properties of the cuprates and quasi-one dimensional (1D) (TMTSF)2PF6 organic conductor suggests that RBCO and Bi2212 exhibit 1D transport properties, and the step rise at low temperatures in the resistivities of the cuprates and quasi-1D organic conductor is due to charge-density-wave ordering. We discuss also phonon-electron interactions in cuprates at low temperatures.
In the present work we address a long standing problem of the magnetic ground state and magnetic excitations in underdoped cuprates. Modelling cuprates by the extended $t-J$ model we show that there is a hidden dimensionless parameter $λ$ which drives magnetic criticality at low doping $x$. Hence we derive the zero temperature $λ-x$ phase diagram of the model. It is argued that all underdoped cuprates are close to the quantum tricritical point $x=0$, $λ=1$. The three phases "meet" at the tricritical point: (i) Néel antiferromagnet, (ii) spin spiral with antinodal direction of the spiral wave v…
Several models of the electronic spectrum in the pseudogap state of underdoped cuprates have been proposed to explain ARPES and STM measurements, which reveal only truncated Fermi pockets instead of a full metallic Fermi surface. We consider the transport properties expected of four physically distinct models, and calculate the thermal and electrical conductivity of the electronic quasiparticles. By proposing transport currents that reflect the close correspondence between quasiparticles on the Fermi pockets in the pseudogap and those near nodes in the superconducting state, we show that measu…
We calculate the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) effect waveform using the canonical ensemble for different Fermi surface scenarios applicable to the underdoped cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu3O6.5, in which quantum oscillations have recently been observed. The harmonic content of the dHvA waveform of the principal F ~ 500 T frequency is consistent with the existence of a second thermodynamically dominant section of Fermi surface that acts primarily as a charge reservoir. Oscillations in the charge density to and from this reservoir are shown to potentially contribute to the observed large quantum osc…
There is now copious direct experimental evidence of various forms of (short-range) charge order in underdoped cuprate high temperature superconductors, and spectroscopic signatures of a nodal-antinodal dichotomy in the structure of the single-particle spectral functions. In this context, we analyze the Bogoliubov quasiparticle spectrum in a superconducting nematic glass. The coincidence of the superconducting "nodal points" and the nematic "cold-spots" on the Fermi surface naturally accounts for many of the most salient features of the measured spectral functions (from angle-resolved photoemi…
Angle resolved photoemission experiments by Kanigel, et al (cond-mat/0605499) [Nature Physics 2, 447 (2006)] have made a remarkable observation that low energy electronic excitations in the normal state of underdoped cuprate superconductors exist on open ``Fermi arcs'' instead of a closed Fermi surface. These arcs shrink upon cooling, with the arc length appearing to extrapolate to nodal points at zero temperature. We show that this striking non-Fermi liquid behavior could result from the underdoped normal state above Tc lying in the vicinity of a quantum phase transition between a d-wave supe…
Within the t-J model, the heat transport of the underdoped cuprates is studied based on the fermion-spin theory. It is shown that at low temperatures the energy dependence of the thermal conductivity spectrum consists of two bands. The higher-energy band shows a weak peak, while the low-energy peak is located at a finite energy. This high-energy broad band is severely suppressed with increasing temperatures, and vanishes at higher temperature. It is also shown that the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity increases monotonously with increasing temperatures, in agreement with expe…
We study Cooper-pair phase fluctuations in cuprate superconductors for a spin fluctuation pairing interaction. Using an electronic theory we calculate in particular for the underdoped cuprate superconductors the superfluid density $n_s(T)$, the superconducting transition temperature $T_c(x) \propto n_s$ below which phase coherent Cooper-pairs occur, and $T_c^{*}(x)$ where the phase incoherent Cooper-pairs disappear. Also we present results for the penetration depth $λ(x,T)$ and for the weak pseudogap temperature $T^{*}(x)$ at which a gap structure occurs in the spectral density. A Meißner effe…
We present a variational approach based on the string picture to analyze the internal structure and dispersion of spin polarons with different symmetries in an antiferromagnet. We then use this to discuss the properties of underdoped cuprate superconductor within the `doped insulator' picture. The theory explains the remnant Fermi surface for the undoped compunds, as well as hole pockets, Fermi arcs, high energy pseudogap and the the mid-infrared band in doped materials. Destructive interference between the phases of a photohole near $Γ$ and the internal phases of the Zhang Rice singlet combin…
We study 2+1 dimensional massless Dirac fermions and bosons coupled to a U(1) gauge field as a model for underdoped cuprates. We find that the uniform susceptibility and the specific heat coefficient are logarithmically enhanced (compared to linear-in-T behavior) due to the fluctuation of transverse gauge field which is the only massless mode at finite boson density. We analyze existing data, and find good agreement in the spin gap phase. Within our picture, the drop of the susceptibility below the superconducting T_c arises from the suppression of gauge fluctuations.
The letter deals with the spin-freezing process observed by means of NMR-NQR relaxation or by muon spin rotation in underdoped cuprate superconductors. This phenomenon, sometimes referred as coexistence of antiferromagnetic and superconducting order parameters, is generally thought to result from randomly distributed magnetic moments related to charge inhomogeneities (possibly stripes) which exhibit slowing down of their fluctuations on cooling below T$_c$ . Instead, we describe the experimental findings as due to fluctuating, vortex-antivortex, orbital currents state coexisting with d-wave su…
We present results on heavily underdoped Y_1-xCa_xBa_2Cu_3O_6+y which provide the evidence that the doping mechanism (cation substitution or oxygen loading) directly determines whether the corresponding injected mobile holes contribute to superconductivity or only to the normal metallic properties. We argue that this hole tagging calls for a subtler description of the correlated bands than the usual one. We also map in great detail the underdoped superconducting phase diagram T_c vs. hole doping which shows that the number of mobile holes is not the critical parameter for the superconductivity…
We present fermi liquid expressions for the low temperature behavior of the superfluid stiffness, explain why they differ from those suggested recently by Lee and Wen, and discuss their applicability to data on high-$T_c$ superconductors. We find that a consistent description requires a strong, doping dependent anisotropy, which affects states near the zone corners much more strongly than those near the zone diagonals.
Raman and ARPES experiments have demonstrated that in superconducting underdoped cuprates nodal and antinodal regions are characterized by two energy scales instead of the one expected in BCS. The nodal scale decreases with underdoping while the antinodal one increases. Contrary to the behavior expected for an increasing energy scale, the antinodal Raman intensity decreases with decreasing doping. Using the Yang, Rice and Zhang (YRZ) model, we show that these features are a consequence of the non-conventional nature of the superconducting state in which superconductivity and pseudogap correlat…
