Momentum-selective metal-insulator transition in the two-dimensional Hubbard model: An 8-site dynamical cluster approximation study

Abstract

Metal-insulator transitions in the paramagnetic phase of the two-dimensional square-lattice Hubbard model are studied using the dynamical cluster approximation with eight momentum cells. We show that both the interaction-driven and the doping-driven transitions are multistage and momentum-sector specific with Fermi-liquid metal and fully gapped insulator phases separated by an intermediate phase, in which some regions of the Brillouin zone are gapped while others sustain gapless quasiparticles. We argue that this is the coarse-grained version of a gradually shrinking arc or pocket. A pronounced particle-hole asymmetry is found.