Mott-Slater Transition in a Textured Cuprate Antiferromagnet

Abstract

We generalize the concept of vortex phase in a type II superconductor to textured phases, where certain phases can persist over an extended range of perturbations by confining competing phases on topological defects (the vortices in a superconductor). We apply this model to the pseudogap phase in cuprates, where the relevant topological defects are the antiphase domain walls of an underlying antiferromagnetic (AFM) order. We demonstrate that this model can describe many key features of intertwined orders in cuprates, and most importantly provide the first clear evidence for the Mott-Slater transition in cuprates.