Optical and DC conductivity in the two-dimensional
t−t′−t′′ Hubbard model near the antiferromagnetic quantum critical point
We study dynamical scaling in the quantum-critical fan of the pseudogap-metal to Fermi-liquid transition of the two-dimensional Hubbard model. Using a four-patch dynamical cluster approximation with the numerical renormalization group as a cluster impurity solver, we access real-frequency dynamics over several decades at arbitrary temperatures. Close to the critical doping, the local spin and cluster-current susceptibility spectra exhibit
x=ω/T scaling of the form
χ′′(ω,T)∼tanh(x/2), and the cluster contribution to the optical conductivity obeys
Tσcl′(ω,T)∼tanh(x/2)/x, implying a
1/T cluster dc conductivity. In the scaling regime, the vertex contribution to the cluster optical response is much larger than the bubble contribution. We further find evidence for a marginal-Fermi-liquid nodal self-energy. This, together with the
1/T vertex contribution to the conductivity, implies strange-metal optical transport in the quantum critical region. Our results describe several qualitative aspects of several experimental observations.
The conductivity of the two-dimensional Hubbard model is particularly relevant for high-temperature superconductors. Vertex corrections are expected to be important because of strongly momentum-dependent self-energies. To attack this problem, one must also take into account the Mermin--Wagner theorem, the Pauli principle, and crucial sum rules in order to reach nonperturbative regimes. Here, we use the two-particle self-consistent approach that satisfies these constraints. This approach is reliable from weak to intermediate coupling. A functional derivative approach ensures that vertex corrections are included in a way that satisfies the
f-sum rule. The two types of vertex corrections that we find are the antiferromagnetic analogs of the Maki--Thompson and Aslamasov--Larkin contributions of superconducting fluctuations to the conductivity but, contrary to the latter, they include nonperturbative effects. The resulting analytical expressions must be evaluated numerically. The calculations are impossible unless a number of advanced numerical algorithms are used. These algorithms make extensive use of fast Fourier transforms, cubic splines, and asymptotic forms. A maximum entropy approach is specially developed for analytical continuation of our results. These algorithms are explained in detail in the appendices. The numerical results are for nearest-neighbor hoppings. In the pseudogap regime induced by two-dimensional antiferromagnetic fluctuations, the effect of vertex corrections is dramatic. Without vertex corrections the resistivity increases as we enter the pseudogap regime. Adding vertex corrections leads to a drop in resistivity, as observed in some high-temperature superconductors. At high temperatures, the resistivity saturates at the Ioffe--Regel limit. At the quantum critical point and beyond, the resistivity displays both linear and quadratic temperature dependence and there is a correlation between the linear term and the superconducting transition temperature. A hump is observed in the mid-infrared range of the optical conductivity in the presence of antiferromagnetic fluctuations.
We numerically study optical conductivity $\ensuremath{\sigma}(\ensuremath{\omega})$ near the ``antiferromagnetic'' phase transition in the square-lattice Hubbard model at half filling. We use a cluster dynamical mean field theory and calculate conductivity including vertex corrections and, to this end, we have reformulated the vertex corrections in the antiferromagnetic phase. We find that the vertex corrections change various important details in temperature and $\ensuremath{\omega}$ dependencies of conductivity in the square lattice, and this contrasts sharply the case of the Mott transition in the frustrated triangular lattice. Generally, the vertex corrections enhance variations in the $\ensuremath{\omega}$ dependence, and sharpen the Drude peak and a high-$\ensuremath{\omega}$ incoherent peak in the paramagnetic phase. They also enhance the dip in $\ensuremath{\sigma}(\ensuremath{\omega})$ at $\ensuremath{\omega}=0$ in the antiferromagnetic phase. Therefore, the dc conductivity is enhanced in the paramagnetic phase and suppressed in the antiferromagnetic phase, but this change occurs slightly below the transition temperature. We also find a temperature region above the transition temperature in which the dc conductivity shows an insulating behavior but $\ensuremath{\sigma}(\ensuremath{\omega})$ retains the Drude peak, and this region is stabilized by the vertex corrections. We also investigate which fluctuations are important in the vertex corrections and analyze momentum dependence of the vertex function in detail.