Spin bags in the doped t-J model

TL;DR

This paper introduces a nonperturbative method to describe low-energy excitations in the doped t-J model, showing that composite operators simplify spectral functions and support the spin bag picture with bound states of holes.

Contribution

It develops a new nonperturbative approach using exact diagonalization to evaluate spectral functions of composite operators in the t-J model, clarifying the nature of quasiparticles.

Findings

Spectral functions become free-particle like at half-filling.

Doped case resembles weakly interacting fermions.

Holes form bound states with d(x^2-y^2) symmetry.

Abstract

We present a nonperturbative method for deriving a quasiparticle description of the low-energy excitations in the t-J model for strongly correlated electrons. Using the exact diagonalization technique we evaluated exactly the spectral functions of composite operators which describe an electron or hole dressed by antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations as expected in the string or spin bag picture. For hole doping up to $1/8$, use of the composite operators leads to a drastic simplification of the single particle spectral function: at half-filling it takes free-particle form, for the doped case it resembles a system of weakly interacting Fermions corresponding to the doped holes. We conclude that for all doping levels under study, the elementary electronic excitations next to the Fermi level are adequately described by the antiferromagnetic spin fluctuation picture and show that the dressing of the holes leads to formation of a bound state with d(x^2-y^2) symmetry.