Pseudogap opening and formation of Fermi arcs as an orbital-selective Mott transition in momentum space

Abstract

We present an approach to the normal state of cuprate superconductors which is based on a minimal cluster extension of dynamical mean-field theory. Our approach is based on an effective two-impurity model embedded in a self-consistent bath. The two degrees of freedom of this effective model can be associated to the nodal and antinodal regions of momentum space. We find a metal-insulator transition which is selective in momentum space. At low doping, quasiparticles are destroyed in the antinodal region, while they remain protected in the nodal region, leading to the formation of apparent Fermi arcs. We compare our results to tunneling and angular-resolved photoemission experiments on cuprates. At very low energy, a simple description of this transition can be given using rotationally invariant slave bosons.