Dynamical Gap and Cuprate-like Physics from Holography

TL;DR

This paper uses holography to model various phases of strongly correlated electron systems, showing how a bulk dipole interaction tunes the boundary theory through Fermi liquid, non-Fermi liquid, and Mott insulator phases, with temperature effects and fermion correlator analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a holographic model with a bulk dipole interaction that captures key phases of cuprate-like systems and analyzes their properties at finite temperature.

Findings

Continuous tuning from Fermi liquid to Mott insulator via dipole strength p

Mott gap closes at finite temperature with a ratio similar to VO_2

No instability induced by the dipole interaction in boundary fermion correlators

Abstract

We study the properties of fermion correlators in a boundary theory dual to the Reissner-Nordstr\"om AdS_{d+1} background in the presence of a bulk dipole (Pauli) interaction term with strength p. We show that by simply changing the value of the parameter p we can tune continuously from a Fermi liquid (small p), to a marginal Fermi liquid behavior at a critical value of p, to a generic non-Fermi liquid at intermediate values of p, and finally to a Mott insulator at large values of the bulk Pauli coupling. As all of these phases are seen in the cuprate phase diagram, the holographic model we study has the key elements of the strong coupling physics typified by Mott systems. In addition, we extend our analysis to finite temperature and show that the Mott gap closes. Of particular interest is that it closes when the ratio of the gap to the critical temperature is of the order of ten. This behavior is very much similar to that observed in the classic Mott insulator VO_2. We then analyze the non-analyticities of the boundary theory fermion correlators for generic values of frequency and momentum by calculating the quasi-normal modes of the bulk fermions. Not surprisingly, we find no evidence for the dipole interaction inducing an instability in the boundary theory. Finally, we briefly consider the introduction of superconducting condensates, and find that in that case, the fermion gap is driven by scalar-fermion couplings rather than by the Pauli coupling.