Temperature dependent Fermi arcs in the normal state of the underdoped cuprate superconductors

TL;DR

This paper explains the temperature-dependent Fermi arcs observed in underdoped cuprate superconductors as a consequence of the normal state being near a quantum phase transition between a d-wave superconductor and an insulator.

Contribution

It proposes a theoretical explanation for the Fermi arc phenomenon based on the proximity to a quantum phase transition in the underdoped regime.

Findings

Fermi arcs shrink with decreasing temperature.

Normal state near a quantum critical point explains non-Fermi liquid behavior.

Arc length extrapolates to nodal points at zero temperature.

Abstract

Angle resolved photoemission experiments by Kanigel, et al (cond-mat/0605499) [Nature Physics 2, 447 (2006)] have made a remarkable observation that low energy electronic excitations in the normal state of underdoped cuprate superconductors exist on open ``Fermi arcs'' instead of a closed Fermi surface. These arcs shrink upon cooling, with the arc length appearing to extrapolate to nodal points at zero temperature. We show that this striking non-Fermi liquid behavior could result from the underdoped normal state above Tc lying in the vicinity of a quantum phase transition between a d-wave superconductor and a correlated insulating phase.