Magnetotransport signatures of a single nodal electron pocket constructed from Fermi arcs

Abstract

Reconstruction of the Fermi surface into small electron pockets in the normal ground state of the underdoped high-temperature superconducting cuprates has been related to charge ordering. It remains an open question, however, as to whether Fermi-surface reconstruction occurs from a more conventional starting large holelike Fermi surface yielding multiple pockets, or whether it occurs by connecting truncated ``Fermi arcs'' in an unconventional pseudogap state to yield a single pocket per ${\mathrm{CuO}}_{2}$ plane. Thus far, the observation of an in-plane magnetoresistance, and sign reversals and quantum oscillations in the Hall coefficient have been considered to provide support for the former conventional scenario. Here we show that in fact a single nodal diamond-shaped electron pocket with concave sides produced by the latter unconventional scenario yields the observed experimental signatures in magnetotransport, negative Hall coefficient, and quantum oscillations in the negative Hall effect. Taken in conjunction with complementary signatures such as the experimentally observed low value of heat capacity at high magnetic fields and the experimental observation of a charge ordering wave vector that connects the tips of the truncated Fermi arcs, an origin of Fermi-surface reconstruction from unconventional Fermi arcs is suggested.