Microscopic evolution of doped Mott insulators from polaronic metal to Fermi liquid

The competition between antiferromagnetism and hole motion in two-dimensional Mott insulators lies at the heart of a doping-dependent transition from an anomalous metal to a conventional Fermi liquid. We observe such a crossover in Fermi-Hubbard systems on a cold-atom quantum simulator and reveal the transformation of multipoint correlations between spins and holes upon increasing doping at temperatures around the superexchange energy. Conventional observables, such as spin susceptibility, are furthermore computed from the microscopic snapshots of the system. Starting from a magnetic polaron regime, we find the system evolves into a Fermi liquid featuring incommensurate magnetic fluctuations and fundamentally altered correlations. The crossover is completed for hole dopings around 30%. Our work benchmarks theoretical approaches and discusses possible connections to lowertemperature phenomena.

Automated summary

The research reveals the competition between antiferromagnetism and hole motion in two-dimensional Mott insulators, as well as the transition from an anomalous metal to a conventional Fermi liquid with varying doping levels. Using a cold-atom quantum simulator, the transformation of multipoint correlations between spins and holes is observed to change with increasing doping, with the crossover completed around 30% hole doping. This work provides insights into theoretical approaches and potential connections to lower-temperature phenomena.