We construct the low-energy theory of a doped Mott insulator, such as the high-temperature superconductors, by explicitly integrating over the degrees of freedom far away from the chemical potential. For either hole or electron doping, a charge 2e bosonic field emerges at low energy. The charge 2e boson mediates dynamical spectral weight transfer across the Mott gap and creates a new charge e excitation by binding a hole. The result is a bifurcation of the electron dispersion below the chemical potential as observed recently in angle-resolved photoemission on Pb-doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta (Pb2212).
We show here that many of the normal state properties of the cuprates can result from the new charge
2e bosonic field which we have recently [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 046404 (2007); Phys. Rev. B 77, 014512 (2007)] shown to exist in the exact low-energy theory of a doped Mott insulator. In particular, the (1) midinfrared band including the nonvanishing of the restricted
f-sum rule in the Mott insulator, (2)
T2 contribution to the thermal conductivity, (3) pseudogap, (4) bifurcation of the electron spectrum below the chemical potential, as recently seen in angle-resolved photoemission, (5) insulating behavior away from half-filling, (6) high- and low-energy kinks in the electron dispersion, and (7)
T-linear resistivity all derive from the charge
2e bosonic field. We also calculate the inverse dielectric function and show that it possesses a sharp quasiparticle peak and a broad particle-hole continuum. The sharp peak is mediated by a new charge
e composite excitation formed from the binding of a charge
2e boson and a hole and represents a distinctly new prediction of this theory. It is this feature that is responsible for the dynamical part of the spectral weight transferred across the Mott gap. We propose that electron-energy loss spectroscopy at finite momentum and frequency can be used to probe the existence of such a sharp feature.