The "Strange Metal" is a Projected Fermi Liquid with Edge Singularities

TL;DR

This paper reinterprets the strange metal phase in high-temperature cuprates as a projected Fermi liquid with unique edge singularities, challenging previous exotic theories.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the strange metal can be understood as a Gutzwiller-projected Fermi liquid, explaining its properties without invoking exotic states or quantum criticality.

Findings

Fermi liquid-like excitation spectrum with electron-hole asymmetry

Power law dependence of conductivity on frequency

Predicted anomalies in tunneling and photoemission spectra

Abstract

The puzzling "strange metal" phase of the high Tc cuprate phase diagram reveals itself as closer to a Fermi liquid than previously supposed: it is a consequence of Gutzwiller projection and does not necessarily require exotica such as an RVB or mysterious quantum critical points. There is a Fermi liquid-like excitation spectrum but the excitations are asymmetric between electrons and holes, show anomalous forward scattering and have Z equal to 0. We explain the power law dependence of conductivity on frequency and predict anomalies in the tunneling and photoemission spectra.