Diffusion and localization of relative strategy scores in the Minority Game

We study the equilibrium distribution of relative strategy scores of agents in the asymmetric phase ($\alpha\equiv P/N\gtrsim 1$) of the basic Minority Game using sign-payoff, with $N$ agents holding two strategies over $P$ histories. We formulate a statistical model that makes use of the gauge freedom with respect to the ordering of an agent's strategies to quantify the correlation between the attendance and the distribution of strategies. The relative score $x\in\mathbb{Z}$ of the two strategies of an agent is described in terms of a one dimensional random walk with asymmetric jump probabilities, leading either to a static and asymmetric exponential distribution centered at $x=0$ for fickle agents or to diffusion with a positive or negative drift for frozen agents. In terms of scaled coordinates $x/\sqrt{N}$ and $t/N$ the distributions are uniquely given by $\alpha$ and in quantitative agreement with direct simulations of the game. As the model avoids the reformulation in terms of a constrained minimization problem it can be used for arbitrary payoff functions with little calculational effort and provides a transparent and simple formulation of the dynamics of the basic Minority Game in the asymmetric phase

Nodal-antinodal dichotomy and magic doping fractions in a stripe ordered antiferromagnet

We study a model of a stripe ordered doped antiferromagnet consisting of coupled Hubbard ladders which can be tuned from quasi-one-dimensional to two-dimensional. We solve for the magnetization and charge density on the ladders by Hartree-Fock theory and find a set of solutions with lightly doped ``spin-stripes'' which are antiferromagnetic and more heavily doped anti-phase ``charge-stripes''. Both the spin- and charge-stripes have electronic spectral weight near the Fermi energy but in different regions of the Brillouin zone; the spin-stripes in the ``nodal'' region, near (\pi/2,\pi/2), and the charge-stripes in the ``antinodal'' region, near (\pi,0). We find a striking dichotomy between nodal and antinodal states in which the nodal states are essentially delocalized and two-dimensional whereas the antinodal states are quasi-one-dimensional, localized on individual charge-stripes. For bond-centered stripes we also find an even-odd effect of the charge periodicity which could explain the non-monotonous variations with doping of the low-temperature resistivity in LSCOComment: 6 pages, 6 figures, Expanded and improved, with additional reference

Suppression of superfluid stiffness near Lifshitz-point instability to finite momentum superconductivity

We derive the effective Ginzburg-Landau theory for finite momentum (FFLO/PDW) superconductivity without spin population imbalance from a model with local attraction and repulsive pair-hopping. We find that the GL free energy must include up to sixth order derivatives of the order parameter, providing a unified description of the interdependency of zero and finite momentum superconductivity. For weak pair-hopping the phase diagram contains a line of Lifshitz points where vanishing superfluid stiffness induces a continuous change to a long wavelength Fulde-Ferrell (FF) state. For larger pair-hopping there is a bicritical region where the pair-momentum changes discontinuously. Here the FF type state is near degenerate with the Larkin-Ovchinnikov (LO) or Pair-Density-wave (PDW) type state. At the intersection of these two regimes there is a "Super-Lifshitz" point with extra soft fluctuations. The instability to finite momentum superconductivity occurs for arbitrarily weak pair-hopping for sufficiently large attraction suggesting that even a small repulsive pair-hopping may be significant in a microscopic model of strongly correlated superconductivity. Several generic features of the model may have bearing on the cuprate superconductors, including the suppression of superfluid stiffness in proximity to a Lifshitz point as well as the existence of subleading FFLO order (or vice versa) in the bicritical regime

Band structure of Charge Ordered Doped Antiferromagnets

We study the distribution of electronic spectral weight in a doped antiferromagnet with various types of charge order and compare to angle resolved photoemission experiments on lightly doped La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ (LSCO) and electron doped Nd$_{2-x}$Ce$_x$CuO$_{4\pm\delta}$. Calculations on in-phase stripe and bubble phases for the electron doped system are both in good agreement with experiment including in particular the existence of in-gap spectral weight. In addition we find that for in-phase stripes, in contrast to anti-phase stripes, the chemical potential is likely to move with doping. For the hole doped system we find that ``staircase'' stripes which are globally diagonal but locally vertical or horizontal can reproduce the photoemission data whereas pure diagonal stripes cannot. We also calculate the magnetic structure factors of such staircase stripes and find that as the stripe separation is decreased with increased doping these evolve from diagonal to vertical separated by a coexistence region. The results suggest that the transition from horizontal to diagonal stripes seen in neutron scattering on underdoped LSCO may be a crossover between a regime where the typical length of straight stripe segments is longer than the inter-stripe spacing to one where it is shorter and that locally the stripes are always aligned with the Cu-O bonds.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figure

Lattice expansion from isotope substitution in the Iron based superconductors

We estimate the changes in lattice parameters due to iron isotope substitution in the iron-based high temperature superconductors using a variational calculation based on the anharmonicity of the Fe-As(Se) bond. For BaFe2As2 and 57Fe to 54$Fe substitution we find a c-axis expansion of 1 10^{-3}{\AA} and in-plane a-axis contraction of 1 10^{-5}{\AA} at 250K in good agreement with experimental values on (Ba,K)Fe2As2 for which a negative isotope exponent \alpha=-\frac{d\ln T_c}{d\ln m}<0 was found [P.M. Shirage et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 257003 (2009)]. For FeSe in contrast we find an expansion for both a and c lattice parameters. We discuss the relevance of these isotope induced changes of lattice parameters to the isotope effect in light of the well established sensitivity to the Fe-As(Se) coordination.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure