Using continuity, we derive a renormalized Hamiltonian from the parent $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ model to describe the properties of underdoped cuprates. The theory is constrained to agree with the behavior at half filling, which is well described by the Arovas-Auerbach valence bond state in which bosonic spinons are paired into singlets. Spinon states evolve continuously into the doped region preserving their symmetry. We assume that moving holes rapidly destroy magnetic order, which leads to a gap in the spinon spectrum and strongly renormalizes the theory. The spin gap leads to two different types hopping terms for renormalized holes. In one, a fermionic holon hops within the same sublattice accompanied by a singlet backflow, giving rise to a non-Fermi-liquid normal state with novel properties. Spinon singlets condense below a pseudogap temperature ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}$ (
< spin gap temperature
T0), which allows holons to propagate coherently, forming a spinless Fermi liquid, but without an observable holon Fermi surface. Above ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}$, holons are localized. This is the so-called strange metal phase, which is actually a new type of insulator since its resistivity would be infinite at
T=0. In the second term a pair of holons belonging to opposite sublattices hop, accompanied by a singlet backflow. In the presence of the singlet condensate holon pairs condense, leading to
d-wave superconductivity; the symmetry is primarily determined by the symmetry of the valence bond state at half filling. The metal and the superconductor preserve the two-sublattice character of the valence bond state. A careful examination of the nuclear magnetic resonance, tunneling, and transport data shows that the predictions of the theory is consistent with experimental results. Remarkably, the existence of the spin gap provides a natural explanation for the phenomenon of two dimensionality of the normal state in the presence of interplane hopping. The marked asymmetry between hole-doped and electron-doped cuprates is also easily explained.
We systematically examine the asymmetry of the electronic states in the hole- and electron-doped cuprates by using a $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ model with the second-neighbor hopping ${t}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ and third one ${t}^{\ensuremath{''}}$ (the $t\text{\ensuremath{-}}{t}^{\ensuremath{'}}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{t}^{\ensuremath{''}}\text{\ensuremath{-}}J$ model). Numerically exact diagonalization method is employed for a 20-site square lattice. We impose twisted boundary conditions (BC) instead of standard periodic BC. For static and dynamical correlation functions, averaging procedure over the twisted BC is used to reduce the finite-size effect. We find that antiferromagnetic spin correlation remains strong in electron doping in contrast to the case of hole doping, being similar to the case of the periodic BC. This leads to a remarkable electron-hole asymmetry in the dynamical spin structure factor and two-magnon Raman scattering. By changing the twist, the single-particle spectral function is obtained for all momenta in the Brillouin zone. Examining the spectral function in detail, we find a gap opening at around the $\mathbf{k}=(\ensuremath{\pi},0)$ region for 10% doping of holes (the carrier concentration
x=0.1), leading to a Fermi arc that is consistent with experiments. In electron doping, however, a gap opens at around $\mathbf{k}=(\ensuremath{\pi}∕2,\ensuremath{\pi}∕2)$ and persists up to
x=0.2, being correlated with the strength of the antiferromagnetic correlation. We find that the magnitude of the gaps is sensitive to ${t}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ and ${t}^{\ensuremath{''}}$. A pseudogap is also seen in the optical conductivity for electron doping, and its magnitude is found to be the same as that in the spectral function. We compare calculated quantities with corresponding experimental data, and discuss similarities and differences between them as well as their implications.
We propose a class of ground states for doped Mott insulators in the electron second quantization representation. They are obtained from a bosonic resonating valence bond (RVB) theory of the $t\text{\penalty1000-\hskip0pt}J$ model. At half filling, the ground state describes spin correlations of the
S=1∕2 Heisenberg model very accurately. Its spin degrees of freedom are characterized by RVB pairing of spins, the size of which decreases continuously as holes are doped into the system. Charge degrees of freedom emerge upon doping and are described by twisted holes in the RVB background. We show that the twisted holes exhibit an off diagonal long range order (ODLRO) in the pseudogap ground state, which has a finite pairing amplitude, but is short of phase coherence. Unpaired spins in such a pseudogap ground state behave as free vortices, preventing superconducting phase coherence. The existence of nodal quasiparticles is also ensured by such a hidden ODLRO in the ground state, which is non-Fermi liquidlike in the absence of superconducting phase coherence. Two distinct types of spin excitations can also be constructed. The superconducting instability of the pseudogap ground state is discussed and a
d-wave superconducting ground state is obtained. This class of pseudogap and superconducting ground states unifies antiferromagnetism, pseudogap, superconductivity, and Mott physics into a new state of matter.
We study a system of doped antiferromagnet in three dimensions at finite temperatures using the
t-
J model, a canonical model of strongly correlated electrons. We employ the slave-fermion representation of electrons, in which an electron is described as a composite of a charged spinless holon and a chargeless spinon. We introduce two kinds of U(1) gauge fields on links as auxiliary fields, one describing resonating valence bonds of antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor spin pairs and the other for nearest-neighbor hopping amplitudes of holons and spinons in the ferromagnetic channel. To perform a numerical study of the system, we integrate out the fermionic holon field by using the hopping expansion in powers of the hopping amplitude, which is legitimate for the region in and near the insulating phase. The resultant effective model is described in terms of bosonic spinons, two U(1) gauge fields, and a collective field for hole pairs. We study this model by means of Monte Carlo simulations, calculating the specific heat, spin correlation functions, and instanton densities. We obtain a phase diagram in the hole concentration-temperature plane, which is in good agreement with that observed recently for clean and homogeneous underdoped samples.
The ground state of a hole-doped t-t'-J ladder with four legs favors a striped charge distribution. Spin excitation from the striped ground state is known to exhibit incommensurate spin excitation near q=(pi,pi) along the leg direction (qx direction). However, an outward dispersion from the incommensurate position toward q=(0,pi) is strong in intensity, inconsistent with inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiment in hole-doped cuprates. Motivated by this inconsistency, we use the t-t'-J model with m x n=96 lattice sites by changing lattice geometry from four-leg (24x4) to rectangle (12x8) shape and investigate the dynamical spin structure factor by using the dynamical density matrix renormalization group. We find that the outward dispersion has weak spectral weights in the 12x8 lattice, accompanied with the decrease of excitation energy close to q=(pi,pi), being consistent with the INS data. In the 12x8 lattice, weakening of incommensurate spin correlation is realized even in the presence of the striped charge distribution. For further investigation of geometry related spin dynamics, we focus on direction dependent spin excitation reported by recent resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) for cuprate superconductors and obtain a consistent result with RIXS by examining an 8x8 t-t'-J square lattice.
We investigate the electronic states in the antiferromagnetic (AF) phase of electron-doped cuprates by using numerically exact diagonalization technique for a $t\ensuremath{-}{t}^{\ensuremath{'}}\ensuremath{-}{t}^{\ensuremath{''}}\ensuremath{-}J$ model. When AF correlation develops with decreasing temperature, a gaplike behavior emerges in the optical conductivity. Simultaneously, the coherent motion of carriers due to the same sublattice hoppings is enhanced. We propose that the phase is characterized as an AF state with small Fermi surface around the momentum $\mathbf{k}=(\ensuremath{\pi},0)$ and $(0,\ensuremath{\pi}).$ This is a remarkable contrast to the behavior of hole-doped cuprates.