Connecting high-field quantum oscillations to zero-field electron spectral functions in the underdoped cuprates

TL;DR

This paper presents a unified model explaining various experimental signatures of the pseudogap regime in underdoped cuprates, linking high-field quantum oscillations to zero-field spectral functions.

Contribution

It introduces a model of competing charge density wave and superconducting orders that unifies different temperature regimes and predicts quantum oscillations consistent with experiments.

Findings

Robust signatures of an electron pocket in high-field quantum oscillations

Predicted oscillations due to additional hole pockets

Computed electronic spectrum in fluctuating orders matches experimental trends

Abstract

The central puzzle of the cuprate superconductors at low hole density is the nature of the pseudogap regime. It has a number of seemingly distinct experimental signatures: a suppression of the paramagnetic spin susceptibility at high temperatures, low energy electronic excitations that extend over arcs in the Brillouin zone, X-ray detection of charge density wave order at intermediate temperatures, and quantum oscillations at high magnetic fields and low temperatures. We show that a model of competing charge density wave and superconducting orders provides a unified description of the intermediate and low temperature regimes. We treat quantum oscillations at high field beyond semiclassical approximations, and find clear and robust signatures of an electron pocket compatible with existing observations; we also predict oscillations due to additional hole pockets. In the zero field and intermediate temperature regime, we compute the electronic spectrum in the presence of thermally fluctuating charge density and superconducting orders. Our results are compatible with experimental trends.