Fluctuating charge-density-wave correlations in the three-band Hubbard model

TL;DR

This study uses advanced quantum Monte Carlo simulations to explore how charge-density-wave correlations evolve in a three-band Hubbard model, revealing their decoupling from spin modulations and their doping dependence, which aligns with experimental observations.

Contribution

It provides non-perturbative insights into fluctuating charge and spin correlations in the three-band Hubbard model, highlighting differences from single-band models and experimental data.

Findings

Charge incommensurability decreases with doping.

Charge correlations are decoupled from spin modulations.

High-temperature charge correlations differ from low-temperature stripe order.

Abstract

The high-temperature superconducting cuprates host unidirectional spin- and charge-density-wave orders that can intertwine with superconductivity in non-trivial ways. While the charge components of these stripes have now been observed in nearly all cuprate families, their detailed evolution with doping varies across different materials and at high and low temperatures. We address this problem using non-perturbative determinant quantum Monte Carlo calculations for the three-band Hubbard model. Using an efficient implementation, we can resolve the model's fluctuating spin and charge modulations and map their evolution as a function of the charge transfer energy and doping. We find that the incommensurability of the charge modulations is decoupled from the spin modulations and decreases with hole doping, consistent with experimental measurements at high temperatures. These findings support the proposal that the high-temperature charge correlations are distinct from the intertwined stripe order observed at low-temperature and in the single-band Hubbard model.