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arXiv:1508.07218 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

p -orbital density wave with d symmetry in high- Tc cuprate superconductors predicted by renormalization-group + constrained RPA theory

Masahisa Tsuchiizu, Youichi Yamakawa, Hiroshi Kontani

Published Apr 25, 2016• 30 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The discovery of the charge-density-wave formation in the high-${T}_{c}$ cuprate superconductors has activated intensive theoretical studies for the pseudogap states. However, the microscopic origin of the charge-density-wave state has been unknown so far since the many-body effects beyond the mean-field-level approximations, called the vertex corrections, are essential. Toward solving this problem, we employ the recently developed functional renormalization group method, by which we can calculate the higher-order vertex corrections in a systematic and unbiased way with high numerical accuracy. We discover the critical development of the $p$-orbital-density-wave ($p$-ODW) instability in the strong-spin-fluctuation region. The obtained $p$-ODW state possesses the key characteristics of the charge-ordering pattern in Bi- and Y-based superconductors, such as the wave vector parallel to the nearest Cu-Cu direction, and the $d$-symmetry form factor with the antiphase correlation between ${p}_{x}$ and ${p}_{y}$ orbitals in the same unit cell. In addition, from the observation of the beautiful scaling relation between the spin susceptibility and the $p$-ODW susceptibility, we conclude that the main driving force of the density wave is the Aslamazov-Larkin vertex correction that becomes very singular near the magnetic quantum-critical point.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.93.155148

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Abstract The mysterious metallic phase showing T-linear resistivity and a universal scattering rate 1 / τ = α P k B T / ℏ with a universal prefactor α P ∼ 1 and logarithmic-in-temperature singular specific heat coefficient, the so-called ‘Planckian metal phase’ was observed in various overdoped high- T c cuprate superconductors over a finite range in doping. Revealing the mystery of the Planckian metal state is believed to be the key to understanding the mechanism for high- T c superconductivity. Here, we propose a generic microscopic mechanism for this state based on quantum-critical local bosonic charge Kondo fluctuations coupled to both spinon and a heavy conduction-electron Fermi surface within the heavy-fermion formulation of the slave-boson t–J model. By a controlled perturbative renormalization group analysis, we examine the competition between the pseudogap phase, characterized by Anderson’s Resonating-Valence-Bond spin-liquid, and the Fermi-liquid state, modeled by the electron hopping (effective charge Kondo effect). We find a quantum-critical metallic phase with a universal Planckian ℏ ω / k B T scaling in scattering rate near an extended localized-delocalized (pseudogap-to-Fermi liquid) charge-Kondo breakdown transition. The d-wave superconducting ground state emerges near the transition. Unprecedented qualitative and quantitative agreements are reached between our theoretical predictions and various experiments, including optical conductivity, universal doping-independent field-to-temperature scaling in magnetoresistance, specific heat coefficient, marginal Fermi-liquid spectral function observed in ARPES, and Fermi surface reconstruction observed in Hall coefficients in various overdoped cuprates. Our mechanism offers a microscopic understanding of the quantum-critical Planckian metal phase observed in cuprates and its link to the pseudogap, d-wave superconducting, and Fermi liquid phases. It offers a promising route for understanding how d-wave superconductivity emerges from such a strange metal phase in cuprates–one of the long-standing open problems in condensed matter physics since 1990s–as well as shows a broader implication for the Planckian strange metal states observed in other correlated unconventional superconductors.

Reports on Progress in Physics•Mar 20, 2025•5 citations
The discovery of the charge-density-wave formation in the high-Tc{T}_{c}Tc​ cuprate superconductors has activated intensive theoretical studies for the pseudogap states. However, the microscopic origin of the charge-density-wave state has been unknown so far since the many-body effects beyond the mean-field-level approximations, called the vertex corrections, are essential. Toward solving this problem, we employ the recently developed functional renormalization group method, by which we can calculate the higher-order vertex corrections in a systematic and unbiased way with high numerical accuracy. We discover the critical development of the ppp-orbital-density-wave (ppp-ODW) instability in the strong-spin-fluctuation region. The obtained ppp-ODW state possesses the key characteristics of the charge-ordering pattern in Bi- and Y-based superconductors, such as the wave vector parallel to the nearest Cu-Cu direction, and the ddd-symmetry form factor with the antiphase correlation between px{p}_{x}px​ and py{p}_{y}py​ orbitals in the same unit cell. In addition, from the observation of the beautiful scaling relation between the spin susceptibility and the ppp-ODW susceptibility, we conclude that the main driving force of the density wave is the Aslamazov-Larkin vertex correction that becomes very singular near the magnetic quantum-critical point.
In light of the new experimental and theoretical important developments in high-Tc{T}_{c}Tc​ superconductivity, we revisit the fermionic hot-spot model relevant to the phenomenology of the cuprates. We extend previous results by means of a complete two-loop order renormalization group (RG) framework. Here, we explicitly study the effect of the charge-density-wave (CDW) order parameter with a ddd-wave form factor with the experimentally observed modulation $(\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}{Q}_{0},0)$ and $(0,\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}{Q}_{0})$ at the infrared-stable nontrivial fixed point obtained previously for this model. Additionally, we proceed to investigate also the so-called pair-density-wave (PDW) order that was recently proposed in the literature as a possible candidate for the ``hidden'' order to describe the pseudogap phase observed in underdoped cuprates. We confirm that although the above two ordering tendencies are also found to be nearly degenerate both at one-loop and two-loop RG orders and linked by an emergent SU(2) pseudospin symmetry, they turn out to be subleading for weaker couplings in the present model to antiferromagnetism, ddd-wave bond-density wave (BDW) order with modulation along Brillouin zone diagonals $(\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}{Q}_{0},\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}{Q}_{0})$, and ddd-wave singlet superconductivity (SSC). However, as we increase the strength of the initial coupling towards moderate values, we do capture a tendency for the entangled PDW/CDW order to become leading compared to BDW/SSC in the model, which suggests that the former composite order might be indeed a viable concept to describe some cuprate superconductors at high temperatures in the underdoped regime, as has been recently alluded to by many authors in the literature.
In recent years, charge-channel order in strongly correlated metals has attracted much attention. Representative examples include electronic nematic order in cuprates and iron-based superconductors, and Star-of-David order in kagome metals. Critical phenomena and unconventional superconductivity arising from fluctuations of such charge-channel orders are central issues today; however, the essential role is played by many-body effects (vertex corrections) beyond the mean-field approximation, and their origin and computational methods have not been established. In this study, we propose the Bethe-Salpeter equation method to evaluate electron-electron interactions in two-dimensional Hubbard models beyond the mean-field approximation. Based on the Baym-Kadanoff conserving approximation, we find that an attractive interaction in the charge channel emerges from the Aslamazov-Larkin vertex corrections that describe the interference processes among spin fluctuations. Applying this method to the square-lattice Hubbard model shows that the cooperation of attractive charge fluctuations and repulsive spin fluctuations yields high-Tcd{T}_{c} dTc​d-wave superconductivity together with enhanced effective mass. These results provide a natural explanation for the phase diagram of cuprate superconductors, in which ddd-wave superconductivity is strongly enhanced near the charge-order critical point. The theory can also be applied to iron-based and nickelate superconductors, suggesting broad potential for future applications.
Many correlated materials display a quantum-critical point between a paramagnetic and a spin-density wave (SDW) state. The SDW wave vector connects points, so-called hot spots, on opposite sides of the Fermi surface. The Fermi velocities at these pairs of points are in general not parallel. Here, we consider the case where pairs of hot spots coalesce, and the wave vector $(\ensuremath{\pi},\ensuremath{\pi})$ of the SDW connects hot spots with parallel Fermi velocities. Using the specific example of electron-doped cuprates, we first show that Kanamori screening and generic features of the Lindhard function make this case experimentally relevant. The temperature dependence of the correlation length, the spin susceptibility, and the self-energy at the hot spots are found using the two-particle self-consistent theory and specific numerical examples worked out for band and interaction parameters characteristic of the electron-doped cuprates. While the curvature of the Fermi surface at the hot spots leads to deviations from perfect nesting, the pseudonesting conditions lead to drastic modifications of the temperature dependence of these physical observables: Neglecting logarithmic corrections, the correlation length $\ensuremath{\xi}$ scales like 1/T1/T1/T, namely, z=1z=1z=1 instead of the naive z=2z=2z=2, the $(\ensuremath{\pi},\ensuremath{\pi})$ static spin susceptibility $\ensuremath{\chi}$ like 1/T1/\sqrt{T}1/T​, and the imaginary part of the self-energy at the hot spots like T3/2{T}^{3/2}T3/2. The correction ${T}_{1}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\ensuremath{\sim}{T}^{3/2}$ to the Korringa NMR relaxation rate is subdominant. We also consider this problem at zero temperature, or for frequencies larger than temperature, using a field-theoretical model of gapless collective bosonic modes (SDW fluctuations) interacting with fermions. The imaginary part of the retarded fermionic self-energy close to the hot spots scales as $\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\omega}}^{3/2}\mathrm{ln}\ensuremath{\omega}$. This is less singular than earlier predictions of the form $\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\omega}\mathrm{ln}\ensuremath{\omega}$. The difference arises from the effects of umklapp terms that were not included in previous studies.
The physical nature of pseudogap phase is one of the most important and intriguing problems towards understanding the key mechanism of high temperature superconductivity in cuprates. Theoretically, the square-lattice ttt-JJJ model is widely believed to be the simplest toy model that captures the essential physics of cuprate superconductors. We employ the Grassmann tensor product state approach to investigate uniform states in the underdoped (δ≲0.1δ\lesssim 0.1δ≲0.1) region. In addition to the previously known uniform ddd-wave state, we discover a strongly fluctuating pair density wave (PDW) state with wave vector Q=(π,π)Q = (π, π)Q=(π,π). This fluctuating PDW state weakly breaks the C4C_4C4​ rotational symmetry of the square lattice and has a lower or comparable energy to the ddd-wave state (depending on doping and the t/Jt/Jt/J ratio), making it a promising candidate state for describing the pseudogap phase.
Identification of the electronic state that appears upon doping a Mott insulator is important to understand the physics of cuprate high-temperature superconductors. Recent scanning tunneling microscopy of cuprates provides evidence that a charge-ordered state emerges before the superconducting state upon doping the parent compound. We study this phenomenon by computing the charge response function of the Hubbard model including frequency-dependent local vertex corrections that satisfy the compressibility sum rule. We find that upon approaching the Mott phase from the overdoped side, the charge fluctuations at wave vectors connecting hot spots are suppressed much faster than at the other wave vectors. It leads to a momentum dependence of the dressed charge susceptibility that is very different from either the bare susceptibility or from the susceptibility obtained from the random phase approximation. We also find that the paramagnetic lightly hole-doped Mott phase at finite temperature is unstable to charge ordering only at zero wave vector, confirming the results previously obtained from the compressibility. Charge order is driven by the frequency-dependent scattering processes that induce an attractive particle-hole interaction at large interaction strength and small doping.
Abstract The mysterious metallic phase showing T-linear resistivity and a universal scattering rate 1 / τ = α P k B T / ℏ with a universal prefactor α P ∼ 1 and logarithmic-in-temperature singular specific heat coefficient, the so-called ‘Planckian metal phase’ was observed in various overdoped high- T c cuprate superconductors over a finite range in doping. Revealing the mystery of the Planckian metal state is believed to be the key to understanding the mechanism for high- T c superconductivity. Here, we propose a generic microscopic mechanism for this state based on quantum-critical local bosonic charge Kondo fluctuations coupled to both spinon and a heavy conduction-electron Fermi surface within the heavy-fermion formulation of the slave-boson t–J model. By a controlled perturbative renormalization group analysis, we examine the competition between the pseudogap phase, characterized by Anderson’s Resonating-Valence-Bond spin-liquid, and the Fermi-liquid state, modeled by the electron hopping (effective charge Kondo effect). We find a quantum-critical metallic phase with a universal Planckian ℏ ω / k B T scaling in scattering rate near an extended localized-delocalized (pseudogap-to-Fermi liquid) charge-Kondo breakdown transition. The d-wave superconducting ground state emerges near the transition. Unprecedented qualitative and quantitative agreements are reached between our theoretical predictions and various experiments, including optical conductivity, universal doping-independent field-to-temperature scaling in magnetoresistance, specific heat coefficient, marginal Fermi-liquid spectral function observed in ARPES, and Fermi surface reconstruction observed in Hall coefficients in various overdoped cuprates. Our mechanism offers a microscopic understanding of the quantum-critical Planckian metal phase observed in cuprates and its link to the pseudogap, d-wave superconducting, and Fermi liquid phases. It offers a promising route for understanding how d-wave superconductivity emerges from such a strange metal phase in cuprates–one of the long-standing open problems in condensed matter physics since 1990s–as well as shows a broader implication for the Planckian strange metal states observed in other correlated unconventional superconductors.