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arXiv:cond-mat/0702288 · Physical Review B

String excitations of a hole in a quantum antiferromagnet and photoelectron spectroscopy

Efstratios Manousakis

Published Jan 8, 2007• 79 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The aim of the present paper is twofold. The first goal is to show that high resolution angle-resolved photoelectron spectra from cuprates indicate the presence of string-like excitations of the quasihole excitation in a quantum antiferromagnet. In order to compare with the experimental intensity plots, we calculate the spectral function of the $t\ensuremath{-}J$ and the $t\ensuremath{-}{t}^{\ensuremath{'}}\ensuremath{-}{t}^{\ensuremath{''}}\ensuremath{-}J$ models within the self-consistent Born approximation for widely accepted values of the parameters of these models. The main features of the high resolution photoelectron spectra are in general agreement with the results based on the above models and can be understood by considering not only the lowest-energy quasiparticle peak but, also, the higher-energy string-like excitations of the hole. These features are (a) the energy-momentum dispersion of the string-like excitations, (b) the momentum dependence of the spectral weight of the quasiparticle peak, and (c) the way in which the spectral weight of the lowest-energy quasiparticle peak is transferred to higher-energy string excitations, including the fact that it vanishes near the $\ensuremath{\Gamma}$ point. The second goal of the present paper is to make the case that a proper analysis of both the numerical results obtained from these models and of the experimental results, suggests a theoretical picture for the internal structure of the hole-quasiparticle and a string-exchange pairing mechanism due to strong antiferromagnetic correlations among the background spins. We find that, using a simple model in which the Hilbert space is restricted to states of only unbroken strings attached to the holes and in which the holes are connected with unbroken strings, we can provide a good quantitative description of the most accurate numerical results. We find that the holes experience an effective interaction due to a string-exchange mechanism which is characterized by a rather large string tension and this can provide pairing energy scales much larger than those suggested by spin-fluctuation-mediated pairing models. In addition, it is argued that such string-exchange interaction tends to bind holes in a bound state with the ${d}_{{x}^{2}\ensuremath{-}{y}^{2}}$ symmetry.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.75.035106

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The aim of the present paper is twofold. The first goal is to show that high resolution angle-resolved photoelectron spectra from cuprates indicate the presence of string-like excitations of the quasihole excitation in a quantum antiferromagnet. In order to compare with the experimental intensity plots, we calculate the spectral function of the t\ensuremath−Jt\ensuremath{-}Jt\ensuremath−J and the t\ensuremath−t\ensuremath′\ensuremath−t\ensuremath′′\ensuremath−Jt\ensuremath{-}{t}^{\ensuremath{'}}\ensuremath{-}{t}^{\ensuremath{''}}\ensuremath{-}Jt\ensuremath−t\ensuremath′\ensuremath−t\ensuremath′′\ensuremath−J models within the self-consistent Born approximation for widely accepted values of the parameters of these models. The main features of the high resolution photoelectron spectra are in general agreement with the results based on the above models and can be understood by considering not only the lowest-energy quasiparticle peak but, also, the higher-energy string-like excitations of the hole. These features are (a) the energy-momentum dispersion of the string-like excitations, (b) the momentum dependence of the spectral weight of the quasiparticle peak, and (c) the way in which the spectral weight of the lowest-energy quasiparticle peak is transferred to higher-energy string excitations, including the fact that it vanishes near the \ensuremathΓ\ensuremath{\Gamma}\ensuremathΓ point. The second goal of the present paper is to make the case that a proper analysis of both the numerical results obtained from these models and of the experimental results, suggests a theoretical picture for the internal structure of the hole-quasiparticle and a string-exchange pairing mechanism due to strong antiferromagnetic correlations among the background spins. We find that, using a simple model in which the Hilbert space is restricted to states of only unbroken strings attached to the holes and in which the holes are connected with unbroken strings, we can provide a good quantitative description of the most accurate numerical results. We find that the holes experience an effective interaction due to a string-exchange mechanism which is characterized by a rather large string tension and this can provide pairing energy scales much larger than those suggested by spin-fluctuation-mediated pairing models. In addition, it is argued that such string-exchange interaction tends to bind holes in a bound state with the dx2\ensuremath−y2{d}_{{x}^{2}\ensuremath{-}{y}^{2}}dx2\ensuremath−y2​ symmetry.
Abstract The dynamics of a hole motion in a quantum antiferromagnet has been studied in the past three decades because of its relationship to models related to superconductivity in cuprates. The same problem has received significant attention because of its connection to very recent experiments of the dynamics of ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices where models of strongly correlated electrons can be simulated. In this paper we apply the diagrammatic Monte Carlo method to calculate the single-hole Green’s function in the t–J model, where the J term is linearized, in a wide range of imaginary-time with the aim to examine the polaron formation and in particular the details of the contribution of the so-called string excitations found in such recent experiments. We calculate the single-hole spectral function by analytic continuation from imaginary to real time and study the various aspects that constitute the string picture, such as, the energy–momentum dependence of the main quasiparticle peak and its residue, the internal excitations of the string which appear as multiple peaks in the spectral function as well as their momentum dependence. We find that the earlier analysis of the spectral function based on a mobile-hole connected with a string of overturn spins and the contribution of the internal string excitations as obtained from the non-crossing approximation is accurate.
A finite-size scaling analysis of the spectral function and of the optical conductivity of a single hole moving in an antiferromagnetic background is performed. It is shown that both the low-energy quasiparticle peak and the broad higher-energy structure are robust with increasing cluster size from 4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}4 to \ensuremath{\surd}26 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} \ensuremath{\surd}26 sites. In the absence of spin fluctuations, for most static or dynamical quantities saturation occurs when the size exceeds a characteristic size Nc{\mathit{N}}_{\mathit{c}}Nc​(Jz{\mathit{J}}_{\mathit{z}}Jz​). Typically, 16- and 26-site clusters give reliable results for Jz{\mathit{J}}_{\mathit{z}}Jz​>0.75 and Jz{\mathit{J}}_{\mathit{z}}Jz​>0.3, respectively. The hole optical mass is shown to be very large (>20) in agreement with the small bandwidth. Due to the energy gap to flip a spin in the vicinity of a hole, a small gap \ensuremath{\propto}Jz{\mathit{J}}_{\mathit{z}}Jz​ separates the low-energy \ensuremath{\delta} function from the rest of the spectrum in the dynamical correlation functions. On the other hand, with ${\mathit{J}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\perp}}}$ this gap seems to disappear with increasing system size as one would expect since the spin waves are gapless in the thermodynamic limit. The large momentum dependence of the quasiparticle weight in the isotropic case is inconsistent with a string picture but agrees well with the self-consistent Born approximation.An accurate estimation of the higher-energy part of the spectral functions of the t-J model can be made for momenta close to (0,0) or (\ensuremath{\pi},\ensuremath{\pi}); it consists of a broad featureless band. For momenta close to the Fermi surface, no evidence for excited string states is found. This may be either because the string scenario breaks down or because exact calculations at momenta near (\ensuremath{\pi}/2,\ensuremath{\pi}/2) are limited by the differing geometries of the finite clusters. In the Ising limit, the spectral function also depends crucially on the momentum, but a feature resembling a string excitation is seen for momenta close to (0,0). Our data on the finite-frequency optical conductivity of a single hole in the t-J model reveal that the total spectral weight at finite frequency has a strong size dependence and decreases with increasing size (for J not too small). This suggests that the optical mass and the optical absorption of the t-J model may have been overestimated in the past.
An accurate variational ansatz is proposed for a single quasihole excitation in a two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnet. The trial state includes spin-hole and spin-hole-spin correlations, in addition to background antiferromagnetic spin-spin correlations. Background spin-spin correlations are induced by the Heisenberg antiferromagnetic exchange interaction and describe the zero-point motion of spin waves around the Ne\ifmmode\acute\else\textasciiacute\fi{}el state. Spin-hole and spin-hole correlations describe ``strings'' of spins displaced by one lattice site along the hole path. This is a generalization of the Brinkman-Rice approach to include quantum spin fluctuations. We have used the Monte Carlo method to compute the variational energy and the spectral weight of the quasihole state in the t-J model on the square lattice, with the proposed ansatz. Comparison with exact results for the 4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}4 lattice shows very good agreement for both energy and spectral weight, at k=(\ensuremath{\pi}/2,\ensuremath{\pi}/2) in the range 0\ensuremath{\le}t/J\ensuremath{\le}5. We report results for lattices of several sizes up to 16\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}16 in the above range of t/J and for the two values of k where the hole energy band attains its minimum [k=(\ensuremath{\pi}/2,\ensuremath{\pi}/2)] and maximum [k=(0,0)].
We study thermal broadening of the hole spectral function of the two-dimensional $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ model (and its extensions) within the noncrossing approximation (NCA) with and without the contribution of optical phonons. We find that phonons at finite temperature broaden the lowest energy quasiparticle peak, however, the string excitations survive even for relatively strong electron-phonon coupling. Experimental angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) results compare well with our calculations at finite temperature when we use strong electron-phonon coupling without any ad hoc broadening. In addition, we have studied the role of vertex corrections and we find that their contribution allows us to achieve the same overall agreement with the ARPES experimental results but using smaller values for the electron-phonon coupling $(\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\sim}0.5)$ than that required $(\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\sim}1)$ when restricting ourselves within NCA.
In strongly correlated quantum materials, the behavior of charge carriers is dominated by strong electron-electron interactions. These can lead to insulating states with spin order, and upon doping to competing ordered states including unconventional superconductivity. The underlying pairing mechanism remains poorly understood however, even in strongly simplified theoretical models. Recent advances in quantum simulation allow to study pairing in paradigmatic settings, e.g. in the t-J t − J and t-J_z t − J z Hamiltonians. Even there, the most basic properties of paired states of only two dopants, such as their dispersion relation and excitation spectra, remain poorly studied in many cases. Here we provide new analytical insights into a possible string-based pairing mechanism of mobile holes in an antiferromagnet. We analyze an effective model of partons connected by a confining string and calculate the spectral properties of bound states. Our model is equally relevant for understanding Hubbard-Mott excitons consisting of a bound doublon-hole pair or confined states of dynamical matter in lattice gauge theories, which motivates our study of different parton statistics. Although an accurate semi-analytic estimation of binding energies is challenging, our theory provides a detailed understanding of the internal structure of pairs. For example, in a range of settings we predict heavy states of immobile pairs with flat-band dispersions - including for the lowest-energy d d -wave pair of fermions. Our findings shed new light on the long-standing question about the origin of pairing and competing orders in high-temperature superconductors.
Literature addressing the existence of ``hole pockets'' in experiments for the high-Tc{\mathrm{T}}_{\mathrm{c}}Tc​ cuprates and in theoretical analysis of electronic models of correlated electrons is reviewed. It is argued that the issue is not conclusively resolved, both in theory and experiments. The apparently large Fermi surface observed in numerical studies of the doped Hubbard and t-J models suggests the presence of 1-x carriers (with x the concentration of holes). However, this is in contradiction with results obtained in similar calculations for the Drude weight which scales with x at low doping. To address such a paradox, dressed operators are here used. Their spectral decomposition A(k,\ensuremath{\omega}) is analyzed specially using the t-J model on ladders, but considering also chains and two-dimensional (2D) clusters. The results are contrasted against those obtained with the standard bare operators. It is concluded that substantial changes in the spectral weight can occur by replacing the bare hole creation operator by its dressed version. Apparently large Fermi surfaces can turn into small ones by working with quasiparticle (qp) operators that represent accurately the state of one hole. Thus, large Fermi surfaces in angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES), obtained by the sudden removal of an electron, may not be in contradiction with a visualization of the normal state of lightly doped antiferromagnets as composed of a gas of spin polarons with energies approximately obtained from the rigid band doping of the half-filled dispersion. The coexistence of a large Fermi surface in ARPES with, e.g., a holelike Hall coefficient seems possible in systems with strong correlations. In this paper the expression ``hole pocket'' is used as representing a large accumulation of spectral weight centered at k=(\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\ensuremath{\pi}/2,\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\ensuremath{\pi}/2) generated by antiferromagnetic correlations in 2D clusters, or in analogous positions for ladders and chains. The subtle issue of whether such hole pockets represent a true small Fermi surface or just large incoherent weight cannot be addressed with finite resolution techniques such as angle-resolved photoemission and numerical studies of electronic models. They only provide information about the location of the dominant weight in A(k,\ensuremath{\omega}). The ideas discussed here are very general and they can be applied to a variety of problems where quasiparticles are strongly dressed by low energy excitations of the medium in which they are immersed.