Evidence that the pseudogap (PG) in a near-optimally doped Bi
2Sr
2CaCu
2O
8+δ sample destroys the BCS logarithmic pairing instability [1] raises again the question of the role of the PG in the high-temperature superconducting cuprates [2]. The elimination of the BCS instability is consistent with the view that the PG competes with superconductivity. However, as noted in [1], the onset of superconductivity with a
Tc∼90 K suggests an alternative scenario in which the PG reflects the formation of short range pairing correlations. Here, we report results obtained from a dynamic cluster quantum Monte Carlo approximation (DCA) for a 2D Hubbard model and conclude that (1) the PG, like the superconductivity, arises due to short-range antiferromagnetic correlations and (2) contrary to the usual case in which the pairing instability arises from the Cooper instability, here, the strength of the spin-fluctuations increases as the temperature decreases leading to the pairing instability.
As is known, the
1/q2 theorem of Bogoliubov asserts that the mean density of the fermion pair states with the total momentum q obeys the inequality ${n}_{q}>~{C/q}^{2}(\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{q}0)$ in the case of the Fermi system taken at nonzero temperature and in the superconducting state provided the interaction term of its Hamiltonian is locally gauge invariant. With the principle of correlation weakening it is proved in this paper that the reason for the mentioned singular behavior of
nq is the presence of the bound states of particle pairs with nonzero total momenta. Thus, below the temperature of the superconducting phase transition there always exist the bound states of the fermion couples beyond the pair condensate. If the pseudogap observed in the normal phase of the high-
Tc superconductors is stipulated by the presence of the electron bound pairs, then the derived result suggests, in a model-independent manner, that the pseudogap survives below
Tc.An exact study of charge-spin separation, pairing fluctuations, and pseudogaps is carried out by combining the analytical eigenvalues of the four-site Hubbard clusters with the grand canonical and canonical ensemble approaches in a multidimensional parameter space of temperature
(T), magnetic field
(h), on-site interaction
(U), and chemical potential $(\ensuremath{\mu})$. Our results, near the average number of electrons $⟨N⟩\ensuremath{\approx}3$, strongly suggest the existence of a critical parameter
Uc(T) for the localization of electrons and a particle-hole binding (positive) gap ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}^{e\text{\ensuremath{-}}h}(T)>0$ at
U>Uc(T), with a zero temperature critical value,
Uc(0)=4.584. For
U<Uc(T), the particle-particle pair binding is found with a (positive) pairing gap ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}^{P}(T)>0$. The ground state degeneracy is lifted at
U>Uc(T) and the cluster becomes a Mott-Hubbard like insulator due to the presence of energy gaps at all (allowed) integer numbers $(1\ensuremath{\le}N\ensuremath{\le}8)$ of electrons. In contrast, for $U\ensuremath{\le}{U}_{c}(T)$, we find an electron pair binding instability at finite temperature near $⟨N⟩\ensuremath{\approx}3$, which manifests a possible pairing mechanism, a precursor to superconductivity in small clusters. Rigorous criteria for the existence of many-body Mott-Hubbard like particle-hole and particle-particle pairings, spin pairing, (spin) pseudogap, and (spin) antiferromagnetic critical crossover temperatures, at which the corresponding pseudogaps disappear, are also formulated. In particular, the resulting phase diagram consisting of charge and spin pseudogaps, antiferromagnetic correlations, hole pairing with competing hole-rich
(⟨N⟩=2), hole-poor
(⟨N⟩=4), and magnetic
(⟨N⟩=3) regions in the ensemble of clusters near 1/8 filling closely resembles the phase diagrams and inhomogeneous phase separation recently found in the family of doped high-
Tc cuprates.