Mott Gap Excitations and Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering in Doped Cuprates

Predictions are made for the momentum- and carrier-dependent degradation of the Mott gap upon doping in high-Tc cuprates as would be observed in Cu K-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). The two-dimensional Hubbard model with second- and third-nearest-neighbor hopping terms has been studied by numerical exact diagonalization. Special emphasis is placed on the particle-hole asymmetry of the Mott gap excitations. We argue that the Mott gap excitations observed by RIXS are significantly influenced by the interaction between charge carriers and antiferromagnetic correlations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, revised version; to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

Theory of RIXS in strongly correlated electron systems: Mott gap excitations in cuprates

We theoretically examine the momentum dependence of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) spectrum for one-dimensional and two-dimensional cuprates based on the single-band Hubbard model with realistic parameter values. The spectrum is calculated by using the numerical diagonalization technique for finite-size clusters. We focus on excitations across the Mott gap and clarify spectral features coming from the excitations as well as the physics behind them. Good agreement between the theoretical and existing experimental results clearly demonstrates that the RIXS is a potential tool to study the momentum-dependent charge excitations in strongly correlated electron systems.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, Proceedings of 5th International Conference on Inelastic X-ray Scattering (IXS 2004

Exact diagonalization study of optical conductivity in two-dimensional Hubbard model

The optical conductivity \sigma(\omega) in the two-dimensional Hubbard model is examined by applying the exact diagonalization technique to small square clusters with periodic boundary conditions up to \sqrt{20} X \sqrt{20} sites. Spectral-weight distributions at half filling and their doping dependence in the 20-site cluster are found to be similar to those in a \sqrt{18} X \sqrt{18} cluster, but different from 4 X 4 results. The results for the 20-site cluster enable us to perform a systematic study of the doping dependence of the spectral-weight transfer from the region of the Mott-gap excitation to lower-energy regions. We discuss the dependence of the Drude weight and the effective carrier number on the electron density at a large on-site Coulomb interaction.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Temperature dependence of spinon and holon excitations in one-dimensional Mott insulators

Motivated by the recent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements on one-dimensional Mott insulators, SrCuO${}_{2}$ and Na${}_{0.96}$V${}_{2}$O${}_{5}$, we examine the single-particle spectral weight of the one-dimensional (1D) Hubbard model at half-filling. We are particularly interested in the temperature dependence of the spinon and holon excitations. For this reason, we have performed the dynamical density matrix renormalization group and determinantal quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations for the single-particle spectral weight of the 1D Hubbard model. In the QMC data, the spinon and holon branches become observable at temperatures where the short-range antiferromagnetic correlations develop. At these temperatures, the spinon branch grows rapidly. In the light of the numerical results, we discuss the spinon and holon branches observed by the ARPES experiments on SrCuO${}_{2}$. These numerical results are also in agreement with the temperature dependence of the ARPES results on Na${}_{0.96}$V${}_{2}$O${}_{5}$.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Resonant Two-Magnon Raman Scattering and Photoexcited States in Two-Dimensional Mott Insulators

We investigate the resonant two-magnon Raman scattering in two-dimensional (2D) Mott insulators by using a half-filled 2D Hubbard model in the strong coupling limit. By performing numerical diagonalization calculations for small clusters, we find that the Raman intensity is enhanced when the incoming photon energy is not near the optical absorption edge but well above it, being consistent with experimental data. The absence of resonance near the gap edge is associated with the presence of background spins, while photoexcited states for resonance are found to be characterized by the charge degree of freedom. The resonance mechanism is different from those proposed previously.Comment: REVTeX4, 4 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

Theoretical study of angle-resolved two-photon photoemission in two-dimensional insulating cuprates

We propose angle-resolved two-photon photoemission spectroscopy (AR-2PPES) as a technique to detect the location of the bottom of the upper Hubbard band (UHB) in two-dimensional insulating cuprates. The AR-2PPES spectra are numerically calculated for small Hubbard clusters. When the pump photon excites an electron from the lower Hubbard band, the bottom of the UHB is less clear, but when an electron in the nonbonding oxygen band is excited, the bottom of the UHB can be identified clearly, accompanied with additional spectra originated from the spin-wave excitation at half filling.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Momentum-resolved charge excitations in high-Tc cuprates studied by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

We report a Cu K-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) study of high-Tc cuprates. Momentum-resolved charge excitations in the CuO2 plane are examined from parent Mott insulators to carrier-doped superconductors. The Mott gap excitation in undoped insulators is found to commonly show a larger dispersion along the [pi,pi] direction than the [pi,0] direction. On the other hand, the resonance condition displays material dependence. Upon hole doping, the dispersion of the Mott gap excitation becomes weaker and an intraband excitation appears as a continuum intensity below the gap at the same time. In the case of electron doping, the Mott gap excitation is prominent at the zone center and a dispersive intraband excitation is observed at finite momentum transfer