Spontaneous fourfold-symmetry breaking driven by electron-lattice coupling and strong correlations in high-$T_c$ cuprates

TL;DR

This study uses dynamical-mean-field theory to show how electron-lattice interactions cause spontaneous fourfold-symmetry breaking in high-$T_c$ cuprates, especially in the underdoped pseudogap regime, affecting Fermi surface properties.

Contribution

It reveals a strong instability towards orthorhombic distortion driven by electron correlations, explaining symmetry breaking without structural anisotropy in cuprates.

Findings

Symmetry breaking occurs in the underdoped pseudogap regime.

Quasiparticle weights recover along one antinodal direction.

Fermi arc reconnection is associated with symmetry breaking.

Abstract

Using dynamical-mean-field theory for clusters, we study the two-dimensional Hubbard model in which electrons are coupled with the orthorhombic lattice distortions through the modulation in the hopping matrix. Instability towards spontaneous symmetry breaking from a tetragonal symmetric phase to an orthorhombic distorted phase is examined as a function of doping and interaction strength. A very strong instability is found in the underdoped pseudogap regime when the interaction strength is large enough to yield the Mott insulating phase at half filling. The symmetry breaking accompanies the recovery of quasiparticle weights along one of the two antinodal directions, leading to the characteristic Fermi arc reconnection. We discuss the implications of our results to the fourfold symmetry breaking reported in systems where the underlying crystal does not have any structural anisotropy.