Letter abstract
Nature Physics 4, 28 - 31 (2008)
Published online: 2 December 2007 | doi:10.1038/nphys790
Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Materials physics
Algebraic charge liquids
Ribhu K. Kaul1, Yong Baek Kim2, Subir Sachdev1 & T. Senthil3
High-temperature superconductivity emerges in the copper oxide compounds on changing the electron density of an insulator in which the electron spins are antiferromagnetically ordered. A key characteristic of the superconductor1 is that electrons can be extracted from it at zero energy only if their momenta take one of four specific values (the 'nodal points'). A central enigma has been the evolution of those zero-energy electrons in the metallic state between the antiferromagnet and the superconductor, and recent experiments yield apparently contradictory results. The oscillation of the resistance in this metal as a function of magnetic field2, 3 indicates that the zero-energy electrons carry momenta that lie on elliptical 'Fermi pockets', whereas ejection of electrons by high-intensity light indicates that the zero-energy electrons have momenta only along arc-like regions4, 5, or 'Fermi arcs'. We present a theory of new states of matter, which we call 'algebraic charge liquids', and which arise naturally between the antiferromagnet and the superconductor, and reconcile these observations. Our theory also explains a puzzling dependence of the density of superconducting electrons on the total electron density, and makes a number of unique predictions for future experiments.
- Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
- Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, Canada
- Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
Correspondence to: T. Senthil3 e-mail: senthil@mit.edu
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