In Chapter 1, we introduce the physics of the HTSC, starting with an historical overview of the problem and describing some experimental results that characterize these materials. Subsequently, we introduce the t−J model, which allows a microscopic description of the HTSC and we introduce the Resonating Valence Bond (RVB) wave function. In Chapter 2, we will describe the numerical techniques used for obtaining the results of our thesis. We start from the Lanczos method, that enable us to obtain exact results for small cluster size and then we enter in the topic of the quantum Monte Carlo technique. We describe the variational Monte Carlo method, the optimization algorithm and we will introduce the Green’s function Monte Carlo and fixed-node approximation, that improve the variational results. In Chapter 3, we will introduce our new variational wave function which generalizes the RVB state we show our results on the charge fluctuations (phase separation problem) for the two-dimensional t−J model. The main results of this chapter has been published in Physical Review B [7]. In Chapter 4, we will study the magnetic and superconducting properties of the two-dimensional t−J and t−t′−J model, trying to understand the role of the next-nearest-neighbor hopping term on the magnetic and superconducting phases. We will show a phase diagram of the magnetic and superconducting correlations, which qualitatively reproduce the actual phase diagram of HTSC and gives some indication on the origin of the electronic pairing. The main results of this chapter were submitted to Physical Review B [8].
We report results of large-scale ground-state density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) calculations on t-[Formula: see text]-J cylinders with circumferences 6 and 8. We determine a rough phase diagram that appears to approximate the two-dimensional (2D) system. While for many properties, positive and negative [Formula: see text] values ([Formula: see text]) appear to correspond to electron- and hole-doped cuprate systems, respectively, the behavior of superconductivity itself shows an inconsistency between the model and the materials. The [Formula: see text] (hole-doped) region shows antiferromagnetism limited to very low doping, stripes more generally, and the familiar Fermi surface of the hole-doped cuprates. However, we find [Formula: see text] strongly suppresses superconductivity. The [Formula: see text] (electron-doped) region shows the expected circular Fermi pocket of holes around the [Formula: see text] point and a broad low-doped region of coexisting antiferromagnetism and d-wave pairing with a triplet p component at wavevector [Formula: see text] induced by the antiferromagnetism and d-wave pairing. The pairing for the electron low-doped system with [Formula: see text] is strong and unambiguous in the DMRG simulations. At larger doping another broad region with stripes in addition to weaker d-wave pairing and striped p-wave pairing appears. In a small doping region near [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text], we find an unconventional type of stripe involving unpaired holes located predominantly on chains spaced three lattice spacings apart. The undoped two-leg ladder regions in between mimic the short-ranged spin correlations seen in two-leg Heisenberg ladders.
We investigate the ground-state properties of two strongly-correlated systems: the two-dimensional
t−J model that can be used to study the high-temperature superconducting phase in the doped antiferromagnet, and the frustrated N\'eel antiferromagnet described by the
J1−J2 Heisenberg model on the square lattice, which is widely considered as the prototype model for spin frustration. In this thesis, we apply to these two systems state-of-the-art quantum Monte Carlo techniques, including the variational and the Green's function Monte Carlo with the fixed-node approximation. Few Lanczos steps are used to systematically improve the accuracy of the trial wave functions. By introducing a suitable regularization scheme for the variational calculations with few Lanczos steps, stable and controllable simulations can be performed up to very large cluster sizes with very good accuracy. In the two-dimensional
t−J model at
J/t=0.4, we show that the accuracy of the Gutzwiller-projected variational state (containing
dx2−y2 pairing) can be improved much by few Lanczos steps; in addition, the fixed-node Monte Carlo with these systematically improvable trial wave functions gives results that are comparable with the best accurate DMRG ones. Our main outcome is that the ground state is homogeneous and no evidence of stripes is detected around the doping
δ=1/8. Indeed, our best approximation to the ground state does not show any tendency towards charge inhomogeneity. Furthermore, our results show that a uniform state containing superconductivity and antiferromagnetism is stabilized at low hole doping, i.e.,
δ≲0.1. In the
J1−J2 Heisenberg model on the square lattice, we use the projected mean-field state that is built from Abrikosov fermions having a
Z2 gauge structure and four Dirac points in the spinon spectrum. No spin or dimer order is found in the strongly frustrated regime and our calculations imply that a spin liquid phase may faithfully represent the exact ground state around
J2/J1=0.5. The few Lanczos step technique is used to systematically improve the accuracy of the variational states both for the ground state and for few relevant low-energy excitations. This procedure allows us to estimate, in a valuable and systemic way, the spin gaps within thermodynamical limit and to show a solid evidence of an unconventional gapless excitation spectrum in the strongly frustrated regime, i.e.,
J2/J1≃0.5. In particular, we found gapless triplet excitations at momenta
(π,0) and
(0,π), which are compatible with the presence of four Dirac points at momenta
(±2π,±2π) in the spinon spectrum.
A combination of analytical approaches and quantum Monte Carlo simulations is used to study both magnetic and pairing correlations for a version of the Hubbard model that includes second-neighbor hopping ${\mathit{t}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$=-0.35t as a model for high-temperature superconductors. Magnetic properties are analyzed using the two-particle self-consistent approach. The maximum in magnetic susceptibility as a function of doping appears both at finite ${\mathit{t}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ and at ${\mathit{t}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$=0 but for two totally different physical reasons. When ${\mathit{t}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$=0, it is induced by antiferromagnetic correlations while at ${\mathit{t}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$=-0.35t it is a band structure effect amplified by interactions. Finally, pairing fluctuations are compared with T-matrix results to disentangle the effects of van Hove singularity and of nesting on superconducting correlations. The addition of antiferromagnetic fluctuations increases slightly the d-wave superconducting correlations despite the presence of a van Hove singularity which tends to decrease them in the repulsive model. Some aspects of the phase diagram and some subtleties of finite-size scaling in Monte Carlo simulations, such as inverted finite-size dependence, are also discussed.
We use a variational Monte Carlo technique to study the ground state of the two-dimensional Hubbard and t-J models on a square lattice. We use a trial wave function that allows a continuous description of the paramagnetic, antiferromagnetic, and superconducting phases, as well as the coexistence of these phases, with no a priori constraint on double occupancy. The phase diagram of both models is given for intermediate coupling (U=10t). We show that the apparent discrepancies between the two models, that appeared in previous variational Monte Carlo studies, are not present when this sufficiently good variational wave function is used. The two models are in good qualitative agreement. We find that except at half-filling a pure antiferromagnetic phase does not exist but is always in coexistence with a d-wave superconducting phase, and is followed by a pure d-wave superconducting phase at doping up to \ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\sim}0.3. The staggered magnetization and the superconducting gap are measured, and a comparison with other analytical or numerical results is made.
The ground state of two-dimensional t – J model including superconductivity and antiferromagnetism is studied using a new type of analytic estimation of the effect of strong correlation. The method is an extension of the Gutzwiller approximation which gives renormalization of parameters, t and J , due to the Gutzwiller projection operator excluding double occupancies. It is shown that the essential point of the renormalization is its dependence on the expectation values of superconductivity and antiferromagnetic moment. In special the renormalization factor is anisotropic in spin space, which leads to a reliable estimate of antiferromagnetic order parameters in the phase diagram, in contrast to the conventional slave-boson mean-field theory. The obtained phase diagram shows the coexistence of antiferromagnetism and d x 2 - y 2 -wave superconductivity for the doping rate, δ, less than 10%. At half-filling, the renormalization of the J -term represents some aspects of quantum spin nature. For the finite doping case, there are two kinds of superconducting order parameters. The variational order parameter of the d-wave superconductivity increases as the doping rate decreases, which will correspond to the experimentally observed superconducting gap. In contrast, the actual expectation value of superconducting order parameter is proportional to δ in underdoped region and has a maximum near δ=0.11, which probably determines T c . We also speculate that the ground-state antiferromagnetic order, being destroyed at finite temperatures, gives the energy and temperature scale of the pseudogap. Applications to the inhomogeneous systems such as the vortex state and stripe state are discussed.