Electronic properties of the mean-field resonating valence bond model of cuprates

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a mean-field resonating valence bond model explains the anomalous electronic properties of cuprates, highlighting gapless charge pair excitations and a superconductivity mechanism involving spinon superflow.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the RVB model's ability to account for cuprates' electronic behavior and proposes a novel charge drag mechanism for superconductivity.

Findings

Gapless charge pair excitations confined to the spinon Brillouin zone boundaries.

Superconductivity arises from charge drag by spinon superflow.

The mechanism may apply to other unconventional superconductors.

Abstract

We show that the mean-field resonating valence bond approximation proposed in 1987 by Baskaran, Zou, and Anderson describes gapless charge pair excitations confined to the boundaries of the spinon Brillouin zone. The existence of such pairs accounts for all the essential anomalous electronic properties of cuprates, with superconductivity arising due to the charge drag by the spinon superflow. This mechanism may be relevant to other unconventional superconductors.