ARPES on HTSC: simplicity vs. complexity

A notable role in understanding of microscopic electronic properties of high temperature superconductors (HTSC) belongs to angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). This technique supplies a direct window into reciprocal space of solids: the momentum-energy space where quasiparticles (the electrons dressed in clouds of interactions) dwell. Any interaction in the electronic system, e.g. superconducting pairing, leads to modification of the quasi-particle spectrum--to redistribution of the spectral weight over the momentum-energy space probed by ARPES. A continued development of the technique had an effect that the picture seen through the ARPES window became clearer and sharper until the complexity of the electronic band structure of the cuprates had been resolved. Now, in an optimal for superconductivity doping range, the cuprates much resemble a normal metal with well predicted electronic structure, though with rather strong electron-electron interaction. This principal disentanglement of the complex physics from complex structure reduced the mystery of HTSC to a tangible problem of interaction responsible for quasi-particle formation. Here we present a short overview of resent ARPES results, which, we believe, denote a way to resolve the HTSC puzzle.Comment: A review written for a special issue of FN

Signatures of non-monotonic d-wave gap in electron-doped cuprates

We address the issue whether the data on optical conductivity and Raman scattering in electron-doped cuprates below $T_c$ support the idea that the $d-$wave gap in these materials is non-monotonic along the Fermi surface. We calculate the conductivity and Raman intensity for elastic scattering, and find that a non-monotonic gap gives rise to several specific features in optical and Raman response functions. We argue that all these features are present in the experimental data on Nd$_{2-x}$Ce$_{x}$CuO$_4$ and Pr$_{2-x}$Ce$_{x}$CuO$_4$ compounds.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Phenomenological theory of the underdoped phase of a high-Tc_c superconductor

We model the Fermi surface of the cuprates by one-dimensional nested parts near $(0,\pi)$ and $(\pi,0)$ and unnested parts near the zone diagonals. Fermions in the nested regions form 1D spin liquids, and develop spectral gaps below some $\sim T^*$, but superconducting order is prevented by 1D phase fluctuations. We show that the Josephson coupling between order parameters at $(0,\pi)$ and $(\pi,0)$ locks their relative phase at a crossover scale $T^{**}< T^*$. Below $T^{**}$, the system response becomes two-dimensional, and the system displays Nernst effect. The remaining total phase gets locked at $T_c < T^{**}$, at which the system develops a (quasi-) long-range superconducting order.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; typos corrected, references adde

Self-energy of a nodal fermion in a d-wave superconductor

We re-consider the self-energy of a nodal (Dirac) fermion in a 2D d-wave superconductor. A conventional belief is that Im \Sigma (\omega, T) \sim max (\omega^3, T^3). We show that \Sigma (\omega, k, T) for k along the nodal direction is actually a complex function of \omega, T, and the deviation from the mass shell. In particular, the second-order self-energy diverges at a finite T when either \omega or k-k_F vanish. We show that the full summation of infinite diagrammatic series recovers a finite result for \Sigma, but the full ARPES spectral function is non-monotonic and has a kink whose location compared to the mass shell differs qualitatively for spin-and charge-mediated interactions.Comment: 4pp 3 eps figure

Ginzburg-Landau Like Theory for High Temperature Superconductivity in the Cuprates: Emergent d-wave Order

High temperature superconductivity in the cuprates remains one of the most widely investigated, constantly surprising, and poorly understood phenomena in physics. Here, we describe briefly a new phenomenological theory inspired by the celebrated description of superconductivity due to Ginzburg and Landau and believed to describe its essence. This posits a free energy functional for the superconductor in terms of a complex order parameter characterizing it. We propose, for superconducting cuprates, a similar functional of the complex, in plane, nearest neighbor spin singlet bond (or Cooper) pair amplitude psi_ij. A crucial part of it is a (short range) positive interaction between nearest neighbor bond pairs, of strength J'. Such an interaction leads to nonzero long wavelength phase stiffness or superconductive long range order, with the observed d-wave symmetry, below a temperature T_c\simzJ' where z is the number of nearest neighbours; it is thus an emergent, collective consequence. Using the functional, we calculate a large range of properties, e.g. the pseudogap transition temperature T* as a function of hole doping x, the transition curve T_c(x), the superfluid stiffness rho_s(x,T), the specific heat (without and with a magnetic field) due to the fluctuating pair degrees of freedom, and the zero temperature vortex structure. We find remarkable agreement with experiment. We also calculate the self energy of electrons hopping on the square cuprate lattice and coupled to electrons of nearly opposite momenta via inevitable long wavelength Cooper pair fluctuations formed of these electrons. The ensuing results for electron spectral density are successfully compared with recent ARPES experiments, and comprehensively explain strange features such as temperature dependent Fermi arcs above T_c and the 'bending' of the superconducting gap below T_c .Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, to appear in Int J Mod Phys

Optical Integral and Sum Rule Violation

The purpose of this work is to investigate the role of the lattice in the optical Kubo sum rule in the cuprates. We compute conductivities, optical integrals W, and \Delta W between superconducting and normal states for 2-D systems with lattice dispersion typical of the cuprates for four different models -- a dirty BCS model, a single Einstein boson model, a marginal Fermi liquid model, and a collective boson model with a feedback from super-conductivity on a collective boson. The goal of the paper is two-fold. First, we analyze the dependence of W on the upper cut-off w_c placed on the optical integral because in experiments W is measured up to frequencies of order bandwidth. For a BCS model, the Kubo sum rule is almost fully reproduced at w_c equal to the bandwidth. But for other models only 70%-80% of Kubo sum rule is obtained up to this scale and even less so for \Delta W, implying that the Kubo sum rule has to be applied with caution. Second, we analyze the sign of \Delta W. In all models we studied \Delta W is positive at small w_c, then crosses zero and approaches a negative value at large w_c, i.e. the optical integral in a superconductor is smaller than in a normal state. The point of zero crossing, however, increases with the interaction strength and in a collective boson model becomes comparable to the bandwidth at strong coupling. We argue that this model exhibits the behavior consistent with that in the cuprates.Comment: 16 pp, 23 figures, submitted to PRB, typo corrected, reference adde

Electronic structure of strongly correlated d-wave superconductors

We study the electronic structure of a strongly correlated d-wave superconducting state. Combining a renormalized mean field theory with direct calculation of matrix elements, we obtain explicit analytical results for the nodal Fermi velocity, v_F, the Fermi wave vector, k_F, and the momentum distribution, n_k, as a function of hole doping in a Gutzwiller projected d-wave superconductor. We calculate the energy dispersion, E_k, and spectral weight of the Gutzwiller-Bogoliubov quasiparticles, and find that the spectral weight associated with the quasiparticle excitation at the antinodal point shows a non monotonic behavior as a function of doping. Results are compared to angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) of the high temperature superconductors.Comment: final version, comparison to experiments added, 4+ pages, 4 figure

Doped carrier formulation of the t-J model: the projection constraint and the effective Kondo-Heisenberg lattice representation

We show that the recently proposed doped carrier Hamiltonian formulation of the t-J model should be complemented with the constraint that projects out the unphysical states. With this new important ingredient, the previously used and seemingly different spin-fermion representations of the t-J model are shown to be gauge related to each other. This new constraint can be treated in a controlled way close to half-filling suggesting that the doped carrier representation provides an appropriate theoretical framework to address the t-J model in this region. This constraint also suggests that the t-J model can be mapped onto a Kondo-Heisenberg lattice model. Such a mapping highlights important physical similarities between the quasi two-dimensional heavy fermions and the high-T$_c$ superconductors. Finally we discuss the physical implications of our model representation relating in particular the small versus large Fermi surface crossover to the closure of the lattice spin gap.Comment: corrected and enlarged versio

Bare electron dispersion from photoemission experiments

Performing an in-depth analysis of the photoemission spectra along the nodal direction of the high temperature superconductor Bi-2212 we have developed a procedure to determine the underlying electronic structure and established a precise relation of the measured quantities to the real and imaginary parts of the self-energy of electronic excitations. The self-consistency of the procedure with respect to the Kramers-Kronig transformation allows us to draw conclusions on the applicability of the spectral function analysis and on the existence of well defined quasiparticles along the nodal direction even for the underdoped Bi-2212 in the pseudogap state.Comment: 4 pages 3 figures revtex, corrected misprint

Optical sum in Nearly Antiferromagnetic Fermi Liquid Model

We calculate the optical sum (OS) and the kinetic energy (KE) for a tight binding band in the Nearly Antiferromagnetic Fermi Liquid (NAFFL) model which has had some success in describing the electronic structure of the high $T_c$ cuprates. The interactions among electrons due to the exchange of spin fluctuations profoundly change the probability of occupation $(n_{{\bf k},\sigma})$ of states of momentum {\bf k} and spin $\sigma$ which is the central quantity in the calculations of OS and KE. Normal and superconducting states are considered as a function of temperature. Both integrals are found to depend importantly on interactions and an independent electron model is inadequate.Comment: 9 Pages, 5 Figures Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.