Stability of RVB hole stripes in high-temperature superconductors

TL;DR

This paper uses advanced quantum Monte Carlo simulations to study the stability of stripe-like hole arrangements in high-temperature superconductors, considering various physical effects to understand their persistence in the superconducting phase.

Contribution

It provides a detailed computational analysis of stripe stability in cuprates, incorporating lattice distortions, extended hopping, and Coulomb interactions, which was not comprehensively addressed before.

Findings

Stripe stability depends on lattice distortions and Coulomb repulsion.

Unidirectional hole domains can be stable within a superconducting background.

The results suggest conditions under which stripes may form in cuprates.

Abstract

Indications of density-wave states in underdoped cuprates, coming from recent STM (scanning tunneling microscopy) and Hall-resistance measurements, have raised new concerns whether stripes could be stabilized in the superconducting phase of cuprate materials, even in the absence of antiferromagnetism. Here, we investigate this issue using state-of-the-art quantum Monte Carlo calculations of a $t-J$ model. In particular we consider the stability of unidirectional hole domains in a modulated superconducting background, by taking into account the effect of tetragonal-lattice distortions, next-nearest neighbor hopping and long-range Coulomb repulsion.