Anomalous low-doping phase of the Hubbard model

Abstract

We present results of a systematic quantum Monte Carlo study for the single-band Hubbard model. Thereby we evaluated single-particle spectra (PES and IPES), two-particle spectra (spin and density correlation functions), and the dynamical correlation function of suitably defined diagnostic operators, all as a function of temperature and hole doping. The results allow us to identify different physical regimes. Near half-filling we find an anomalous ``Hubbard-I phase,'' where the band structure is, up to some minor modifications, consistent with the Hubbard-I predictions. At lower temperatures, where the spin response becomes sharp, additional dispersionless ``bands'' emerge due to the dressing of electrons/holes with spin excitations. We present a simple phenomenological fit that reproduces the band structure of the insulator quantitatively. The Fermi surface volume in the low-doping phase, as derived from the single-particle spectral function, is not consistent with the Luttinger theorem, but qualitatively in agreement with the predictions of the Hubbard-I approximation. The anomalous phase extends up to a hole concentration of $\ensuremath{\approx}15%,$ i.e., the underdoped region in the phase diagram of high-${T}_{c}$ superconductors. We also investigate the nature of the magnetic ordering transition in the single-particle spectra. We show that the transition to a spin-density wave-like band structure is not accomplished by the formation of any resolvable ``precursor bands,'' but rather by a (spectroscopically invisible) band of spin-3/2 quasiparticles. We discuss implications for the ``remnant Fermi surface'' in insulating cuprate compounds and the shadow bands in the doped materials.