Accurate theoretical fits to laser ARPES EDCs in the normal phase of cuprate superconductors

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that spectral functions derived from Anderson's theory of the strange metal state in cuprates accurately fit laser-ARPES EDCs, providing a new theoretical understanding of the normal phase.

Contribution

It presents a precise theoretical fit to laser-ARPES EDCs in cuprates using Anderson's model, with only one free parameter, improving upon previous comparisons.

Findings

Spectral functions match experimental ARPES data with high accuracy.

The model captures the shape of EDCs using only one free parameter.

Results support the relevance of Mott-Hubbard interactions in the strange metal state.

Abstract

Anderson has recently proposed a theory of the strange metal state above Tc in the high Tc superconductors. [arXiv:cond-mat/0512471] It is based on the idea that the unusual transport properties and spectral functions are caused by the strong Mott- Hubbard interactions and can be computed by using the formal apparatus of Gutzwiller projection. In ref. 1 Anderson computed only the tunneling spectrum and the power-law exponent of the infrared conductivity. He had calculated the energy distribution curves (EDCs) in angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) but was discouraged when these differed radically from the best ARPES measurements available at the time, and did not include them. In this letter we compare the spectral functions computed within this model to the novel laser-ARPES data of the Dessau group.These are found to capture the shape of the experimental EDCs with unprecedented accuracy and in principle have only one free parameter.