Closing the pseudogap quietly

Abstract

The physical properties of hole-doped cuprate high-temperature superconductors are heavily influenced by an energy gap known as the pseudogap whose origin remains a mystery second only to that of superconductivity itself. A key question is whether the pseudogap closes at a temperature T*. The absence of a specific heat anomaly, together with persistent entropy losses up to 300K, have long suggested that the pseudogap does not vanish at T*. However, amid a growing body of evidence from other techniques pointing to the contrary we revisit this question. Here we investigate if, by adding a temperature dependence to the pseudogap energy and quasiparticle lifetime in the resonating-valence-bond spin-liquid model of Yang Rice and Zhang, we can close the pseudogap quietly in the specific heat.

5 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (9)

• Polar Kerr Effect Measurements of YBa2Cu3O6+x: Evidence for Broken Symmetry Near the Pseudogap Temperature
• A Phenomenological Theory of The Pseudogap State
• From a single-band metal to a high-temperature superconductor via two thermal phase transitions
• From a single-band metal to a high-temperature superconductor via two thermal phase transitions (Supporting Material)
• Particle-Hole Symmetry Breaking in the Pseudogap State of Bi2201
• Specific heat of underdoped cuprates: RVB versus Fermi arcs
• Fermi arcs in cuprate superconductors: tracking the pseudogap below Tc and above T*
• Signature of pseudogap formation in the density of states of underdoped cuprates
• Specific heat across the superconducting dome in the cuprates

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Anomalies in the pseudogap phase of the cuprates: Competing ground states and the role of umklapp scattering
• Simultaneous drop in mean free path and carrier density at the pseudogap onset in high-$T_c$ cuprates