Spin dynamics of a two-dimensional metal in a superconducting state: Application to the high-Tc cuprates

Abstract

We show that a two-dimensional (2D) metal in a superconducting (SC) state with wave-vector-dependent gap behaves as a quantum-spin liquid characterized by a collective mode of resonance type. Formally the mode exists whatever is a form of Fermi surface (FS). However, when the latter is spherical the effect is rather formal: any factor leading to an even weak electron scattering, like finite T, impurity, etc., easily kills the mode. On the contrary, for the type of FS observed in the high-Tc cuprates (characterized by a proximity to the saddle-point wave vectors) the resonance mode exists in a true sense being well separated from the electron-hole continuum and well defined. The effect is due to the effective 1D dimension in a proximity of electronic topological transition quantum critical point. The physical nature of the collective mode varies progressively between two possibilities. In the case of a weak interaction, the resonance mode is a typical effect of a two-particle bound state that appears slightly below the bottom of the two-particle continuum. The effect exists even in the case of infinitesimally weak interaction (of relevant sign). In the case of a strong or intermediate interaction, it is a critical mode existing as a precursor of spin-density wave (SDW) instability. The gap of the collective mode is not related directly to the value of the SC gap (being, however, limited by the latter from above) but rather to a proximity to SDW instability. We predict also a second collective mode lying inside the two-particle continuum. The existence of these two modes and the particular form of their dispersion in the case corresponding to the underdoped cuprates (dx2∼y2 symmetry of SC gap, exchange interaction of antiferromagnetic sign, etc.) allows one to understand the main features observed experimentally in the underdoped cuprates, namely the so-called “41 meV resonance peak” and “24 meV incommensurability” and their two-dimensional wave vector dependences, the doping evolution of the spin dynamics and many other features. The theory also predicts new features to be tested experimentally.

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