Dynamical scaling near the pseudogap quantum critical point of the two-dimensional Hubbard model

Abstract

We study dynamical scaling in the quantum-critical fan of the pseudogap-metal to Fermi-liquid transition of the two-dimensional Hubbard model. Using a four-patch dynamical cluster approximation with the numerical renormalization group as a cluster impurity solver, we access real-frequency dynamics over several decades at arbitrary temperatures. Close to the critical doping, the local spin and cluster-current susceptibility spectra exhibit $x=ω/T$ scaling of the form $χ''(ω,T)\sim \tanh(x/2)$, and the cluster contribution to the optical conductivity obeys $Tσ'_{\mathrm{cl}}(ω,T) \sim \tanh(x/2)/x$, implying a $1/T$ cluster dc conductivity. In the scaling regime, the vertex contribution to the cluster optical response is much larger than the bubble contribution. We further find evidence for a marginal-Fermi-liquid nodal self-energy. This, together with the $1/T$ vertex contribution to the conductivity, implies strange-metal optical transport in the quantum critical region. Our results describe several qualitative aspects of several experimental observations.