Fermi arc in doped high-Tc cuprates

Abstract

We propose a $d$-density wave induced by the spin-orbit coupling in the CuO plane. The spectral function of high-temperature superconductors in the under doped and lightly doped regions is calculated in order to explain the Fermi arc spectra observed recently by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We take into account the tilting of CuO octahedra as well as the on-site Coulombrepulsive interaction; the tilted octahedra induce the staggered transfer integral between $p_{x,y}$ orbitals and Cu $t_{2g}$ orbitals, and bring about nontrivial effects of spin-orbit coupling for the $d$ electrons in the CuO plane. The spectral weight shows a peak at around ($π/2$,$π/2$) for light doping and extends around this point forming an arc as the carrier density increases, where the spectra for light doping grow continuously to be the spectra in the optimally doped region. This behavior significantly agrees with that of the angle-resolved photoemissionspectroscopy spectra. Furthermore, the spin-orbit term and staggered transfer effectively induce a flux state, a pseudo-gap with time-reversal symmetry breaking. We have a nodal metallic state in the light-doping case since the pseudogap has a $d_{x^2-y^2}$ symmetry.