Checkerboard charge density wave and pseudogap in high-$T_{c}$ cuprates

Abstract

We consider the scenario where a 4-lattice constant, rotationally symmetric charge density wave (CDW) is present in the underdoped cuprates. We prove a theorem that puts strong constraint on the possible form factor of such a CDW. We demonstrate, within mean-field theory, that a particular form factor within the allowed class describes the angle-resolved photoemission and scan tunneling spectroscopy well. We conjecture that the ``large pseudogap'' in cuprates is the consequence of this type of charge density wave.