Mean-Field Description of Phase String Effect in the $t-J$ Model

Abstract

A mean-field treatment of the phase string effect in the $t-J$ model is presented. Such a theory is able to unite the antiferromagnetic (AF) phase at half-filling and metallic phase at finite doping within a single theoretical framework. We find that the low-temperature occurrence of the AF long range ordering (AFLRO) at half-filling and superconducting condensation in metallic phase are all due to Bose condensations of spinons and holons, respectively, on the top of a spin background described by bosonic resonating-valence-bond (RVB) pairing. The fact that both spinon and holon here are bosonic objects, as the result of the phase string effect, represents a crucial difference from the conventional slave-boson and slave-fermion approaches. This theory also allows an underdoped metallic regime where the Bose condensation of spinons can still exist. Even though the AFLRO is gone here, such a regime corresponds to a microscopic charge inhomogeneity with short-ranged spin ordering. We discuss some characteristic experimental consequences for those different metallic regimes. A perspective on broader issues based on the phase string theory is also discussed.