Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2401.08543 · Physical Review Letters

Unambiguous Fluctuation Decomposition of the Self-Energy: Pseudogap Physics beyond Spin Fluctuations

Yang Yu, Sergei Iskakov, Emanuel Gull, Karsten Held, Friedrich Krien

Published May 22, 2024• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Correlated electron systems may give rise to multiple effective interactions whose combined impact on quasiparticle properties can be difficult to disentangle. We introduce an unambiguous decomposition of the electronic self-energy which allows us to quantify the contributions of various effective interactions simultaneously. We use this tool to revisit the hole-doped Hubbard model within the dynamical cluster approximation, where commonly spin fluctuations are considered to be the origin of the pseudogap. While our fluctuation decomposition confirms that spin fluctuations indeed suppress antinodal electronic spectral weight, we show that they alone cannot capture the pseudogap self-energy quantitatively. Nonlocal multiboson Feynman diagrams yield substantial contributions and are needed for a quantitative description of the pseudogap.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.132.216501

Related papers

Fluctuation Diagnostics of the Electron Self-Energy: Origin of the Pseudogap Physics

O. Gunnarsson, Thomas Schäfer, J. P. F. LeBlanc +5 more

We demonstrate how to identify which physical processes dominate the low-energy spectral functions of correlated electron systems. We obtain an unambiguous classification through an analysis of the equation of motion for the electron self-energy in its charge, spin, and particle-particle representations. Our procedure is then employed to clarify the controversial physics responsible for the appearance of the pseudogap in correlated systems. We illustrate our method by examining the attractive and repulsive Hubbard model in two dimensions. In the latter, spin fluctuations are identified as the origin of the pseudogap, and we also explain why d-wave pairing fluctuations play a marginal role in suppressing the low-energy spectral weight, independent of their actual strength.

arXiv:1411.6947•Physical Review Letters•Jun 10, 2015•145 citations

Origin and fate of the pseudogap in the doped Hubbard model

Fedor Šimkovic, Riccardo Rossi, Antoine Georges +1 more

We investigate the doped two-dimensional Hubbard model at finite temperature using controlled diagrammatic Monte Carlo calculations allowing for the computation of spectral properties in the infinite-size limit and, crucially, with arbitrary momentum resolution. We show that three distinct regimes are found as a function of doping and interaction strength, corresponding to a weakly correlated metal with properties close to those of the non-interacting system, a correlated metal with strong interaction effects including a reshaping of the Fermi surface, and a pseudogap regime at low doping in which quasiparticle excitations are selectively destroyed near the antinodal regions of momentum space. We study the physical mechanism leading to the pseudogap and show that it forms both at weak coupling when the magnetic correlation length is large and at strong coupling when it is shorter. In both cases, we show that spin-fluctuation theory can be modified in order to account for the behavior of the non-local component of the self-energy. We discuss the fate of the pseudogap as temperature goes to zero and show that, remarkably, this regime extrapolates precisely to the ordered stripe phase found by ground-state methods. This handshake between finite temperature and ground-state results significantly advances the elaboration of a comprehensive picture of the physics of the doped Hubbard model.

arXiv:2209.09237•Sep 19, 2022•16 citations

Spectral Functions and Pseudogap in Models of Strongly Correlated Electrons

Peter Prelovšek, A. Ramšak

The theoretical investigation of spectral functions and pseudogap in systems with strongly correlated electrons is discussed, with the emphasis on the single-band t-J model as relevant for superconducting cuprates. The evidence for the pseudogap features from numerical studies of the model is presented. One of the promising methods to study spectral functions is the method of equations of motion. The latter can deal systematically with the local constraints and projected fermion operators inherent for strongly correlated electrons. In the evaluation of the self energy the decoupling of spin and single-particle fluctuations is performed. In an undoped antiferromagnet the method reproduces the selfconsistent Born approximation (SCBA). For finite doping the approximation evolves into a paramagnon contribution which retains large incoherent contribution in the hole part. On the other hand, the contribution of longer-range spin fluctuations is essential for the emergence of the pseudogap. The latter shows up at low doping in the effective truncation of the large Fermi surface, reduced electron density of states and at the same time reduced quasiparticle density of states at the Fermi level.

arXiv:cond-mat/0208595•Aug 30, 2002•0 citations

Pairing boost from enhanced spin-fermion coupling in the pseudogap regime

Yang Yu, Sergei Iskakov, Emanuel Gull +2 more

We perform a fluctuation analysis of the pairing interaction in the hole-doped Hubbard model within the dynamical cluster approximation. Our analysis reveals that spin-fluctuation-mediated pairing differs qualitatively in the over- and underdoped regimes. In the underdoped regime, spin fluctuations open a pseudogap. We show that in this regime the spin-fermion coupling mediates a giant attraction between antinodal fermions. This explains why superconductivity survives at underdoping in the Hubbard model and cuprates, despite the lack of coherent fermionic quasiparticles in the pseudogap regime.

arXiv:2410.01705•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Jun 16, 2025•3 citations

Probing the pseudogap and beyond: Examining single-particle properties of the hole- and electron-doped Hubbard model

Wen O. Wang, Edwin W. Huang, Brian Moritz +1 more

We compute high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of the Hubbard model using the unbiased determinant quantum Monte Carlo algorithm, revealing an asymmetry between electron and hole doping. Electron doping exhibits more coherent quasiparticles and stronger antiferromagnetic correlations compared to hole doping. At low doping, a nodal-antinodal dichotomy on the Fermi surface is observed, similar to cuprate experiments. The dichotomy reflects the momentum dependence of the Mott gap, as manifested in both the spectral function and the self-energy. For hole doping, we observe a transition towards the pseudogap, without signature of pocket formation. The simulated nuclear magnetic resonance pseudogap temperatures do not necessarily agree with the temperature determined by spectroscopy. These findings collectively suggest the pseudogap is a smooth crossover driven by strong correlations.

arXiv:2506.15770•Physical review. B./Physical review. B•Jul 29, 2026•1 citation

Pseudogaps in strongly correlated metals: A generalized dynamical mean-field theory approach

Michael V. Sadovskii, I. A. Nekrasov, É. Z. Kuchinskiǐ +2 more

We generalize the dynamical-mean field (DMFT) approximation by including into the DMFT equations some length scale $\ensuremath{\xi}$ via a momentum dependent external self-energy ${\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathbf{k}}$. This external self-energy describes nonlocal dynamical correlations induced by the short-ranged collective spin density wave--like antiferromagnetic spin (or the charge density wave--like charge) fluctuations. At high enough temperatures these fluctuations can be viewed as a quenched Gaussian random field with a finite correlation length. This generalized $\mathrm{DMFT}+{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathbf{k}}$ approach is used for the numerical solution of the weakly doped one-band Hubbard model with repulsive Coulomb interaction on a square lattice with the nearest and the next nearest neighbor hopping. The effective single impurity problem in this generalized $\mathrm{DMFT}+{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathbf{k}}$ is solved by the numerical renormalization group. Both types of the strongly correlated metals, namely: (i) The doped Mott insulator and (ii) the case of the bandwidth $W\ensuremath{\lesssim}U$ ($U$---value of the local Coulomb interaction) are considered. The densities of states, the spectral functions, and the angle resolved photoemission spectra calculated within the $\mathrm{DMFT}+{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathbf{k}}$ show a pseudogap formation near the Fermi level of the quasiparticle band.

arXiv:cond-mat/0508585•Physical Review B•Oct 6, 2005•140 citations
Correlated electron systems may give rise to multiple effective interactions whose combined impact on quasiparticle properties can be difficult to disentangle. We introduce an unambiguous decomposition of the electronic self-energy which allows us to quantify the contributions of various effective interactions simultaneously. We use this tool to revisit the hole-doped Hubbard model within the dynamical cluster approximation, where commonly spin fluctuations are considered to be the origin of the pseudogap. While our fluctuation decomposition confirms that spin fluctuations indeed suppress antinodal electronic spectral weight, we show that they alone cannot capture the pseudogap self-energy quantitatively. Nonlocal multiboson Feynman diagrams yield substantial contributions and are needed for a quantitative description of the pseudogap.
We demonstrate how to identify which physical processes dominate the low-energy spectral functions of correlated electron systems. We obtain an unambiguous classification through an analysis of the equation of motion for the electron self-energy in its charge, spin, and particle-particle representations. Our procedure is then employed to clarify the controversial physics responsible for the appearance of the pseudogap in correlated systems. We illustrate our method by examining the attractive and repulsive Hubbard model in two dimensions. In the latter, spin fluctuations are identified as the origin of the pseudogap, and we also explain why d-wave pairing fluctuations play a marginal role in suppressing the low-energy spectral weight, independent of their actual strength.
We investigate the doped two-dimensional Hubbard model at finite temperature using controlled diagrammatic Monte Carlo calculations allowing for the computation of spectral properties in the infinite-size limit and, crucially, with arbitrary momentum resolution. We show that three distinct regimes are found as a function of doping and interaction strength, corresponding to a weakly correlated metal with properties close to those of the non-interacting system, a correlated metal with strong interaction effects including a reshaping of the Fermi surface, and a pseudogap regime at low doping in which quasiparticle excitations are selectively destroyed near the antinodal regions of momentum space. We study the physical mechanism leading to the pseudogap and show that it forms both at weak coupling when the magnetic correlation length is large and at strong coupling when it is shorter. In both cases, we show that spin-fluctuation theory can be modified in order to account for the behavior of the non-local component of the self-energy. We discuss the fate of the pseudogap as temperature goes to zero and show that, remarkably, this regime extrapolates precisely to the ordered stripe phase found by ground-state methods. This handshake between finite temperature and ground-state results significantly advances the elaboration of a comprehensive picture of the physics of the doped Hubbard model.
The theoretical investigation of spectral functions and pseudogap in systems with strongly correlated electrons is discussed, with the emphasis on the single-band t-J model as relevant for superconducting cuprates. The evidence for the pseudogap features from numerical studies of the model is presented. One of the promising methods to study spectral functions is the method of equations of motion. The latter can deal systematically with the local constraints and projected fermion operators inherent for strongly correlated electrons. In the evaluation of the self energy the decoupling of spin and single-particle fluctuations is performed. In an undoped antiferromagnet the method reproduces the selfconsistent Born approximation (SCBA). For finite doping the approximation evolves into a paramagnon contribution which retains large incoherent contribution in the hole part. On the other hand, the contribution of longer-range spin fluctuations is essential for the emergence of the pseudogap. The latter shows up at low doping in the effective truncation of the large Fermi surface, reduced electron density of states and at the same time reduced quasiparticle density of states at the Fermi level.
We perform a fluctuation analysis of the pairing interaction in the hole-doped Hubbard model within the dynamical cluster approximation. Our analysis reveals that spin-fluctuation-mediated pairing differs qualitatively in the over- and underdoped regimes. In the underdoped regime, spin fluctuations open a pseudogap. We show that in this regime the spin-fermion coupling mediates a giant attraction between antinodal fermions. This explains why superconductivity survives at underdoping in the Hubbard model and cuprates, despite the lack of coherent fermionic quasiparticles in the pseudogap regime.
We compute high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of the Hubbard model using the unbiased determinant quantum Monte Carlo algorithm, revealing an asymmetry between electron and hole doping. Electron doping exhibits more coherent quasiparticles and stronger antiferromagnetic correlations compared to hole doping. At low doping, a nodal-antinodal dichotomy on the Fermi surface is observed, similar to cuprate experiments. The dichotomy reflects the momentum dependence of the Mott gap, as manifested in both the spectral function and the self-energy. For hole doping, we observe a transition towards the pseudogap, without signature of pocket formation. The simulated nuclear magnetic resonance pseudogap temperatures do not necessarily agree with the temperature determined by spectroscopy. These findings collectively suggest the pseudogap is a smooth crossover driven by strong correlations.
We generalize the dynamical-mean field (DMFT) approximation by including into the DMFT equations some length scale $\ensuremath{\xi}$ via a momentum dependent external self-energy ${\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathbf{k}}$. This external self-energy describes nonlocal dynamical correlations induced by the short-ranged collective spin density wave--like antiferromagnetic spin (or the charge density wave--like charge) fluctuations. At high enough temperatures these fluctuations can be viewed as a quenched Gaussian random field with a finite correlation length. This generalized $\mathrm{DMFT}+{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathbf{k}}$ approach is used for the numerical solution of the weakly doped one-band Hubbard model with repulsive Coulomb interaction on a square lattice with the nearest and the next nearest neighbor hopping. The effective single impurity problem in this generalized $\mathrm{DMFT}+{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathbf{k}}$ is solved by the numerical renormalization group. Both types of the strongly correlated metals, namely: (i) The doped Mott insulator and (ii) the case of the bandwidth $W\ensuremath{\lesssim}U$ (UUU---value of the local Coulomb interaction) are considered. The densities of states, the spectral functions, and the angle resolved photoemission spectra calculated within the $\mathrm{DMFT}+{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathbf{k}}$ show a pseudogap formation near the Fermi level of the quasiparticle band.