Pair correlations in the two-orbital Hubbard ladder: Implications on superconductivity in the bilayer nickelate La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$

TL;DR

This study uses the density matrix renormalization group to analyze pair correlations in a two-orbital Hubbard ladder, revealing potential insights into high-temperature superconductivity in La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ and emphasizing the role of specific orbitals.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of pair correlations in a two-orbital Hubbard ladder relevant to nickelate superconductors.

Findings

Pair correlations decay as a power-law with distance.

Spin correlations decay exponentially.

Orbital-specific pair correlation behavior suggests relevance to superconductivity.

Abstract

Motivated by high-temperature superconductivity in pressurized La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$, we investigate the pair correlations in the two-orbital Hubbard ladder, which consists of the nearly half-filled and nearly quarter-filled orbitals. By employing the density matrix renormalization group method, we demonstrate that the pair correlation exhibits a power-law decay against the distance while the spin correlation decays exponentially. The decay exponent of the pair correlation of the nearly half-filled orbital is comparable to the exponent of the quasi-long-range superconducting correlation in the doped single-orbital Hubbard ladder, which suggests the importance of the $d_{3z^2-r^2}$ orbital in La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$.