Electrons with Planckian scattering obey standard orbital motion in a magnetic field

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that electrons in cuprate strange metals follow standard orbital motion in magnetic fields, with linear field dependence arising from scattering anisotropy, challenging the view of Planckian dissipation as anomalous in field response.

Contribution

It shows that Planckian dissipation in cuprates is consistent with Boltzmann theory under magnetic fields, revealing its robustness and clarifying the origin of linear field dependence.

Findings

Resistivity in Nd-LSCO and LSCO matches Boltzmann theory predictions.

Linear magnetic field dependence results from scattering anisotropy.

Scattering rate remains unaffected by magnetic fields up to 85 T.

Abstract

In various "strange" metals, electrons undergo Planckian dissipation, a strong and anomalous scattering that grows linearly with temperature, in contrast to the quadratic temperature dependence expected from the standard theory of metals. In some cuprates and pnictides, a linear dependence of the resistivity on magnetic field has also been considered anomalous - possibly an additional facet of Planckian dissipation. Here we show that the resistivity of the cuprate strange metals Nd-LSCO and LSCO is quantitatively consistent with the standard Boltzmann theory of electron motion in a magnetic field, in all aspects - field strength, field direction, temperature, and disorder level. The linear field dependence is found to be simply the consequence of scattering rate anisotropy. We conclude that Planckian dissipation is anomalous in its temperature dependence but not in its field dependence. The scattering rate in these cuprates does not depend on field, which means their Planckian dissipation is robust against fields up to at least 85 T.