Transport signatures of spatially modulated electronic nematic phases

TL;DR

This paper investigates the electrical conductivity signatures of spatially modulated electronic nematic phases, which are a new form of symmetry-breaking state that can occur in correlated materials near van Hove singularities.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of the conductivity tensor in modulated nematic phases, offering a way to identify these states experimentally.

Findings

Derived the conductivity tensor for modulated nematic phases.

Identified signatures distinguishing modulated from uniform nematic states.

Provided criteria for experimental detection of spatially modulated nematic order.

Abstract

Electronic nematic phases are broadly characterized by spontaneously broken rotational symmetry. Although they have been widely recognized in the context of high temperature cuprates, bilayer ruthenates, and iron-based superconductors, the focus so far has been exclusively on the uniform nematic phase. Recently, however, it was proposed that on a square lattice a nematic instability in the d-wave charge channel could lead to a spatially modulated nematic state, where the modulation vector q is determined by the relative location of the Fermi level to the van Hove singularity. Interestingly, this finite-q nematic phase has also been identified as an additional leading instability that is as strong as the superconducting instability near the onset of spin density wave order. Here we study the electrical conductivity tensor in the modulated nematic phase for a general modulation vector. Our results can be used to identify modulated nematic phases in correlated materials.