Fermi gases and liquids display an excitation spectrum that is simply connected, ensuring closed Fermi surfaces. In strongly correlated systems such as the cuprate superconductors, the existence of open sheets of Fermi surface known as Fermi arcs indicate a distinctly different topology of the spectrum with no equivalent in Fermi-liquid theory. Here, we demonstrate a generic mechanism by which correlation effects in fermionic systems can change the topology of the spectrum. Using diagrammatic Monte Carlo simulations, we demonstrate the existence of disconnected and multiply connected excitation spectra in the attractive Hubbard model in the BCS-BEC crossover regime. These topologically nontrivial spectra are a prerequisite for Fermi arcs.
Since the discovery of the pseudogap and Fermi arc states in underdoped cuprates, the understanding of such non-Fermi-liquid states and the associated violation of Luttinger's theorem have been the central theme in correlated electron systems. However, still lacking is a well-accepted theoretical framework to unambiguously explain these metallic states that are clearly beyond Landau's Fermi liquid and Luttinger's theorem of a Fermi surface and electron filling. Here, we design a lattice model of orthogonal metals with fermion and Ising matter fields coupled to topological order and, by solving the model via unbiased quantum Monte Carlo simulation at generic electron fillings, find that the system gives birth to phenomena of the Fermi arc and pseudogap in the single-particle spectrum that go beyond the Luttinger sum rule with broken Fermi surface but no symmetry breaking. The pseudogap and Fermi arcs coexist with a background of a deconfined
Z2 gauge field, and we further find that the confinement transition of the gauge field triggers a superconductivity instability and that the hopping of the gauge-neutral fermions brings the ``large'' Fermi surface back from the Fermi arc state. Our unbiased numerical results provide a concrete model realization and theoretical framework for the coupling between gauge field and fermions and, in the process, generate the rich phenomena of the pseudogap, the Fermi arc, and superconductivity in generic correlated electron systems.
In this paper, we consider a perturbed version of a very simple and exactly solvable model that supports Fermi arcs and pseudogap in its ground state and excitation spectrum, which includes Hubbard-like interactions in both momentum and real spaces. We find that the combined effects give rise to non-Fermi liquid behavior in the electron self-energy. This points to a novel mechanism that leads to non-Fermi liquid behavior, which is of strong current interest in the context of strongly correlated metals, that often become superconductors. Comparison will be made with phenomenology of high- temperature cuprate superconductors.
The self-energy of the hole-doped two-dimensional (2D) Hubbard model is calculated to second order in the interaction U and the ensuing renormalization of the spectral properties and of the Fermi surface is discussed. In uncorrelated systems the square-shaped Fermi surface separates the Fermi surface closed around the \ensuremath{\Gamma} point (with more holes than particles) from the Fermi surface closed around the Z point (with more particles than holes). In a correlated system a topological change from a Fermi surface centered around the \ensuremath{\Gamma} point to a Fermi surface closed around a Z point is induced, either by increasing the interaction or by diminishing the concentration of holes. The shape of the renormalized spectral function
Ap(\ensuremath{\omega}) is momentum dependent. Using
Ap(\ensuremath{\omega}) we evaluate dispersion of single-particle excitations. At low energies the band of quasiparticles with reduced bandwidth is clearly seen. At high energies and far away from the Fermi surface the spectra acquire an additional peak that describes excitations in the Hubbard band. The dispersion in Hubbard bands is weaker along the \ensuremath{\Gamma}-Z, than \ensuremath{\Gamma}-X or X-Z direction. The density of states of a correlated system, as given by the perturbation theory, remains logarithmically singular but the singular weight is reduced with respect to the uncorrelated one. In addition, the correlations transfer the spectral weight out of the low-energy region, where only a narrow Kondo-like structure seems to remain. The spectral properties of the 2D Hubbard model obtained by the truncated perturbation expansion resemble in many ways the recent experimental data on metallic cuprates.
Recent experiments with ultracold fermionic atoms in optical lattices have provided a tuneable and clean realization of the attractive Hubbard model (AHM). In view of this, several physical properties may be thoroughly studied across the crossover between weak (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer, BCS) and strong (Bose-Einstein condensation, BEC) couplings. Here we report on extensive determinant Quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC) studies of the AHM on a square lattice, from which several different quantities have been calculated and should be useful as a roadmap to experiments. We have obtained a detailed phase diagram for the critical superconducting temperature,
Tc, in terms of the band filling, $\ave{n}$, and interaction strength,
U, from which we pinpoint a somewhat wide region
∣U∣/t≈5±1 (
t is the hopping amplitude) and $\ave{n} \approx 0.79 \pm 0.09$ leading to a maximum
Tc≈0.16t. Two additional temperature scales, namely pairing,
Tp, and degeneracy,
Td, have been highlighted: the former sets the scale for pair formation (believed to be closely related to the scale for the gap of spin excitations in cuprates), while the latter sets the scale for dominant quantum effects. Our DQMC data for the distribution of doubly occupied sites, for the momentum distribution function, and for the quasiparticle weight show distinctive features on both sides of the BCS-BEC crossover, being also suggestive of an underlying crossover between Fermi- and non-Fermi liquid behaviors.
Single-particle excitation spectra of the two-dimensional Hubbard model on the square lattice near half filling and at zero temperature are investigated on the basis of the self-consistent projection operator method. The method guarantees a high accuracy of the spectra with high energy and high momentum resolutions. It takes into account long-range intersite correlations as well as the strong on-site correlations. Effects of nonlocal excitations are clarified by comparing the results with those of the single-site approximation. The calculated spectra verify the quantum Monte-Carlo results for finite temperatures. The spectra at the Fermi level yield a hole-like Fermi surface in the underdoped region and an electron-like Fermi surface in the overdoped region. From a numerical analysis of the momentum dependent effective mass and self-energy, it is concluded that a marginal Fermi-liquid like state persists even at finite doping concentrations in the strongly correlated region because a van Hove singularity is pinned to the Fermi surface. It is also found that a kink structure appears in the quasiparticle energy band in the same region. The kink is shown to be caused by a mixing between the quasiparticle band and an excitation band with strong short-range antiferromagnetic correlations. These results suggest an explanation for some of the unusual properties of the normal state in high-
Tc cuprates.