Pairing Fluctuations Determine Low Energy Electronic Spectra in Cuprate Superconductors
Abstract
We describe here a minimal theory of tight binding electrons moving on the square planar Cu lattice of the hole-doped cuprates and mixed quantum mechanically with pairs of them (Cooper pairs). Superconductivity occurring at the transition temperature Tc is the long-range, d-wave symmetry phase coherence of these Cooper pairs. Fluctuations necessarily associated with incipient long-range superconducting order have a generic large distance behaviour near Tc. We calculate the spectral density of electrons coupled to such Cooper pair fluctuations and show that features observed in Angle Resolved Photo Emission Spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments on different cuprates above Tc as a function of doping and temperature emerge naturally in this description. These include `Fermi arcs' with temperature-dependent length and an antinodal pseudogap which fills up linearly as the temperature increases towards the pseudogap temperature. Our results agree quantitatively with experiment. Below Tc, the effects of nonzero superfluid density and thermal fluctuations are calculated and compared successfully with some recent ARPES experiments, especially the observed `bending' or deviation of the superconducting gap from the canonical d-wave form.
Turn this paper into a lesson
ArcXiv compiles a structured reading guide from this paper's metadata: plain-English importance, contributions, prerequisite concepts, which sections to read first, flashcards, and a quiz. Grounded in the abstract, never invented.