Pairing origin of the pseudogap as observed in ARPES measurement in the underdoped cuprates

TL;DR

This paper investigates the pseudogap phenomenon in underdoped cuprates, demonstrating that electron pairing is essential for the observed ARPES features and challenging the sufficiency of competing order scenarios.

Contribution

It shows that particle-hole symmetric competing orders cannot fully explain the pseudogap, emphasizing the role of electron pairing and the effects of spin fluctuations on the Fermi surface.

Findings

Electron pairing is necessary for the ARPES observed leading edge gap.

Competing order scenarios preserving U(1) charge conservation cannot explain the ARPES data.

Large Fermi surface persists under short-range spin fluctuations, with AF band folding effects influencing quasiparticle dynamics.

Abstract

We show that electron pairing is indispensable for the development of the leading edge gap as observed in ARPES measurement in the underdoped cuprates, even though clear evidence for the violation of the particle-hole symmetry is found in the electron spectrum. To support this assertion, we studied the electron spectrum under the scattering of diffusive antiferromagnetic(AF) spin fluctuation, which is thought to be a major candidate for a competing order in the competing order scenario of the pseudogap phenomena. We find that the Fermi level crossing along the M=$(\pi,0)$ to X=$(\pi,\pi)$ line can only be avoided when the M point is pushed above the Fermi level in this scenario. We argue that the same conclusion holds in all competing order scenarios that preserve the U(1) charge conservation. The inconsistency between this prediction and the ARPES observation implies that a competing order in the particle-hole channel alone is not sufficient to explain the pseudogap as observed in ARPES measurement. We also find that the electron system always forms a single large Fermi surface under the scattering of short-ranged dynamical spin fluctuation, rather than forming small Fermi pockets as predicted by the AF band folding picture. The AF shadow band is smeared out in energy as a result of the dispersion in the scattered quasiparticle state and the diffusion in spin fluctuation energy. Nevertheless, we find that the AF band folding effect is important for the understanding of the quasiparticle dynamics in the pseudogap phase, especially, of the origin of the high energy hump structure in the anti-nodal region and the signature of particle-hole asymmetry in the electron spectrum.