Many-body calculation of the spatial extent of the wave-function of a non-magnetic impurity in a d-wave high-temperature superconductor using the t--J model

TL;DR

This paper uses a t-J model with Variational Monte Carlo to compute the spatial structure of a non-magnetic impurity in a high-temperature superconductor, matching STM experimental images.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed many-body calculation of impurity effects in cuprates using the t-J model, aligning theory with STM observations.

Findings

Reproduces the observed four-fold symmetric impurity structure

Shows the spatial variation of hole density and pairing amplitudes

Validates the t-J model as a good description of impurity effects in cuprates

Abstract

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) by providing images of the effects of individual zinc-impurities in cuprate superconductors with unprecedented atomic-resolution offers a stringent test to models of correlated fermions for high-temperature superconductors. Using a t-J model supplemented by Variational Monte Carlo many-body techniques, the spatial dependence of the hole density and of the valence bond and superconducting pairing amplitudes around the impurity are computed. A cross-shaped four-fold symmetric structure very similar to the observed STM observation is found, giving strong credit to the model.