Spin density wave, Fermi liquid, and fractionalized phases in a theory of antiferromagnetic metals using paramagnons and bosonic spinons

The pseudogap metal phase of hole-doped cuprates can be described by small Fermi surfaces of electronlike quasiparticles, which enclose a volume violating the Luttinger relation. This violation requires the existence of additional fractionalized excitations which can be viewed as fractionalized remnants of the paramagnon. We fractionalize the paramagnon into the bosonic spinons of the spin liquid described by the C P 1 U(1) gauge theory, and we present a gauge theory of the bosonic spinons, a Higgs field, and an ancilla layer of fermions coupled to the original electrons. Along with the small Fermi surface pseudogap metal, this theory displays conventional phases: the large Fermi surface Fermi liquid with a low-energy paramagnon mode, and phases with spin density wave order. We describe the evolution of the electronic photoemission spectrum across these quantum phase transitions. We consider both the two-sublattice Neel and incommensurate spin density wave phases, and we find that the latter has spiral spin correlations.

Automated summary

The pseudogap metal phase of hole-doped cuprates can be described by small Fermi surfaces of electronlike quasiparticles enclosing a volume violating the Luttinger relation. The existence of additional fractionalized excitations, considered as fractionalized remnants of the paramagnon, is required for this violation. A gauge theory is presented for the bosonic spinons, a Higgs field, and an ancilla layer of fermions coupled to the original electrons, fractionalizing the paramagnon into the spin liquid described by C P 1 U(1) gauge theory. It displays conventional phases, including the large Fermi surface Fermi liquid and phases with spin density wave order, along with the small Fermi surface pseudogap metal.