Stripes And Nodal Fermions As Two Sides Of The Same Coin

Abstract

One of the central problems in High T_{c} superconductivity is to reconcile the abundant evidence for stripe-like physics at `short' distances with the equally convincing evidence for BCS like physics at large distance scales (the `nodal fermions'). Our central hypothesis is that the duality notion applies: the superconductor should be viewed as a condensate of topological excitations associated with the fully ordered stripe phase. As we will argue, the latter are not only a form of `straighforward' spin and charge order but also involve a form of `hidden' or `topological' long range order which is also responsible for the phenomenon of spin-charge separation in 1+1D. The topological excitation associated with the destruction of this hidden order is of the most unusual kind. We suggest that the associated disorder field theory has a geometrical, gravity like structure concurrent with topological phases with no precedent elsewhere.