# Marginal Fermi Liquid with a Two-Dimensional Patched Fermi Surface

## Abstract

We consider a model composed of Landau quasiparticle states with patched Fermi surfaces (FS) sandwiched by states with flat FS to simulate the “cold” spot regions in cuprates. We calculate the one particle irreducible function and the self-energy up to two-loop order. Using renormalization group arguments we show that in the forward scattering channel the renormalized coupling constant is never infrared stable due to the flat FS sectors. Furthemore we show that the self-energy scales with energy as $`Re\omega \mathrm{ln}\omega `$ as $`\omega 0`$, and thus the Fermi liquid state within each FS patch is turned into a marginal Fermi liquid.

The normal phase of the high-$`T_c`$ superconductors is by now notable for the exhibition of a number of physical properties which don’t fit in a Landau-Fermi liquid framework. These anomalies have in common the fact that they show a crossover behavior near optimal doping and they are in one way or another deeply related with the peculiar nature of the electronic excitations in the underdoped regime. In particular, the presence of an anisotropic pseudogap in the underdoped regime is central to our understanding of the FS topology in these materials. Based on the photoemission spectroscopy data (ARPES) as well as other experimental techniques  we have now a better view of the FS in the cuprates. The experiments performed especially on underdoped Bi2212 and its family compounds  demonstrate the existence of a spectrum characterized by the pseudo gap in the regions around $`(\pm \pi ,0)`$ and $`(0,\pm \pi )`$ in the Brillouin zone. Besides that the experimental data show a single-particle peak structure in the ARPES spectra near $`(\pm \frac{\pi }{2},\pm \frac{\pi }{2})`$. It emerges from these results the phenomenological picture of a two-dimensional patched FS disconnected by pseudogap regions with the quasiparticle like sectors locating in between, the so-called hot spots and cold spots respectively . The hot spots are in essence associated with non-Fermi liquid like states presumably responsible for all the anomalies observed in the normal phase of the underdoped cuprates. In contrast, the cold spots are the patches in which presumably Landau Fermi liquid theory holds.

Our purpose in this work is to test the validity of this scenario. In this work we consider two-dimensional ($`2d`$) quasi-particles with a truncated FS composed of four patches. The boundaries of each patch are taken to be flat with a linear particle dispersion law. This latter description is known to produce non-Fermi liquid behavior as the result of FS nesting. The central regions of these patches are occupied by conventional Fermi liquid states. We take into account interactions between particles of opposite spins in both Cooper $`\left(C\right)`$ and forward channels $`\left(F\right)`$. As expected we find logarithmic divergent non-interacting susceptibilities in these two channels. We calculate the resulting effective quasi-particle interaction up to two-loop order. The Cooper channel is associated with the superconducting instability and does not drive the physical system outside the Landau-Fermi liquid regime for repulsive bare interactions. This is opposite to what happens in the $`F`$ channel. These contributions are therefore momentum dependent. Whenever the superconducting instability is dominant the effective coupling constant approaches the Fermi liquid fixed point. If the coupling constant is regulated by the $`F`$ channel instead it becomes infrared divergent at the Fermi surface.

We also show that the flat sectors of the FS produce new features in the self-energy $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. We calculate the quasiparticle self-energy up to two-loop order. The resulting $``$ scales as $`\omega \mathrm{ln}\omega `$ when $`\omega 0`$ , as a marginal Fermi liquid, producing $`\frac{Re{\scriptscriptstyle }}{\omega }\mathrm{}`$ and a nullified quasiparticle renormalization constant $`Z=0`$. As a result we conclude that there isn’t a truly stable Landau Fermi liquid in such a patched Fermi Surface if the effects of its flat sectors are appropriately taken into account.

We consider initially a $`2d`$ Fermi Surface which consists of four disconnected patches centered around $`(\pm k_F,0)`$ and $`(0,\pm k_F)`$ respectively, as shown in Fig. 1 (a). Let us assume that they are all Landau Fermi liquid like. The disconnected arcs separate occupied single-particle states from unoccupied ones. However as we approach any patch boundary along the arc there cannot be such a sharp separation of single-particle states. If we phrase this in terms of Fermi liquid theory we can say that there are large incoherence effects near each patch border which destroys the sharpness of the FS in these regions. That is, the border regions within any patch cannot truly be Landau like. As a result each one of the disconnected patches has al least finite segments around its borders in which there should exist non-Fermi liquid states. We choose to represent these non-Fermi liquid sectors by finite flat FS pieces combining $`2d`$ and $`1d`$ features. Our resulting FS model , as shown in Fig. 1b, consists in this way of four symmetrical disconnected patches as before with flat border sectors. The $`2d`$ Fermi liquid states defined around the patch center are such that their dispersion law become one-dimensional as we approach the borders since the FS curvature is identically zero in these regions.

In order to make contact with conventional Fermi liquid theory let us consider the Lagrangian density $``$

$$=\underset{\sigma }{}\psi _\sigma ^{}\left(x\right)\left(i_t+\frac{^2}{2m^{}}+\mu \right)\psi _\sigma \left(x\right)\underset{\sigma ,\sigma ^{^{}},\alpha ,\alpha ^{^{}}}{}\underset{y}{}U_{\sigma ,\sigma ^{^{}};\alpha ,\alpha ^{^{}}}\left(xy\right)\psi _\alpha ^{}\left(x\right)\psi _\alpha ^{^{}}^{}\left(y\right)\psi _\sigma ^{^{}}\left(y\right)\psi _\sigma \left(x\right)$$
(1)   
where $`\sigma ,\sigma ^{^{}},\alpha ,\alpha ^{^{}}`$ are spin indices and $`\underset{y}{}=𝑑td^2y`$. Here $`\mu =k_F^2/2m^{}`$ with the fermionic excitations represented by the fermion fields $`\psi _\sigma `$ and $`\psi _\sigma ^{}`$ well defined only in the region defined by the four patches centred around the FS points $`(\pm k_F,0)`$ and $`(0,\pm k_F)`$ ( see Fig. 1 (b) ).

Outside these disconnected patches the fermion fields are taken to be identically zero. Following this argument the fermionic single-particle energy $`\epsilon \left(𝐩\right)`$ should be defined in accordance with the patch under consideration. For the up and down patches defined around the y-axis the Fermi liquid single-particle energy dispersion is given by

$$\epsilon \left(𝐩\right)\frac{k_F^2}{2m^{}}+\left(\pm p_yk_F\right)v_F+\frac{p_x^2}{2m^{}}$$
(2)   
with $`k_F\lambda \pm p_yk_F+\lambda `$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }p_x\mathrm{\Delta }`$, where $`v_F`$ is the Fermi velocity and $`\lambda `$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ are wave vector cutoffs.

In the corresponding flat sectors the energy dispersion is $`1d`$. That is,

$$\epsilon \left(𝐩\right)\frac{k_F^2}{2m^{}}+\left(\pm p_yk_F\right)v_F$$
(3)   
for $`k_F\lambda \pm p_yk_F+\lambda `$ and $`\lambda p_x\mathrm{\Delta }`$ $`or`$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }p_x\lambda `$. We have similar results for the patches defined around $`(\pm k_F,0)`$ exchanging $`p_x`$ and $`p_y`$.

Within this framework we can use perturbation theory to calculate the single-particle Green’s function $`G_\sigma `$ , the particle-particle and the particle-hole susceptibilities $`\mathrm{\Pi }_{}^{\left(0\right)}`$ and $`\chi _{}^{\left(0\right)}`$ respectively and the one-particle irreducible functions $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\sigma ,\sigma ;\sigma ,\sigma }`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\sigma ,\sigma ;\sigma ,\sigma }`$. In all our perturbation theory calculations we assume for simplicity that the interaction function $`U\left(x\right)`$ reduces to $`U\delta \left(x\right)`$.

Let us therefore proceed with our perturbation theory calculation of the one-particle irreducible function $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\sigma ,\sigma ;\sigma ,\sigma }(p_1,p_2;p_3,p_4)`$ up to two-loop order. The corresponding diagrams for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_;`$ are drawn in Fig. 2. The diagram are given in terms of particle-hole and particle-particle susceptibilities given by

$`i\chi _{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(P\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{q}{}}G_{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(q\right)G_{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(q+P\right),`$ (4)   
$`i\mathrm{\Pi }_{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(P\right)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{q}{}}G_{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(q\right)G_{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(q+P\right)`$ (5)   
with the free single-particle Green’s function $`G^{\left(0\right)}\left(q\right)=`$ $`\frac{1}{q_0(\epsilon \left(𝐪\right)\mu )\pm i\delta }`$ where $`\epsilon \left(𝐪\right)\mu `$ is calculated around the central point of one of the four available FS patches being either 1d or 2d depending on the relative position of the $`𝐪`$ vector.

Let us initially consider these scattering processes in the Cooper channel which is characterized by the choice $`p_1+p_2=(p_0,0)`$ with $`p_00`$. If we calculate the integrals for $`i\mathrm{\Pi }_{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(P\right)`$ above we find in this case

$$\mathrm{\Pi }_{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(p_0\right)\frac{\lambda /\pi ^2}{k_F/m^{}}\left[\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{2k_F\lambda /m^{}p_0i\delta }{p_0+i\delta }\right)+\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{2k_F\lambda /m^{}+p_0i\delta }{p_0i\delta }\right)\right]$$
(6)   
In this channel the ln singularity in $`\mathrm{\Pi }_{}^{\left(0\right)}`$ is produced by both flat and curved FL sectors.

Let us next calculate $`\chi _{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(P\right)`$ in the forward channel with $`𝐩_1=𝐩_3;𝐩_2=𝐩_4`$ for $`P=p_4p_1=(p_0,2k_F𝐲)`$. Using the corresponding definition for $`\chi ^{\left(0\right)}`$ we find that

$$\chi _{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(P\right)\frac{\left(\lambda \mathrm{\Delta }\right)m^{}}{4\pi ^2k_F}[\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{2k_F\lambda /m^{}+p_0i\delta }{p_0i\delta }\right)+\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{2k_F\lambda /m^{}p_0i\delta }{p_0+i\delta }\right)]$$
(7)   
As opposed to what happens with $`\mathrm{\Pi }_{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(p_0\right)`$ the singularity in $`\chi ^{\left(0\right)}`$ is entirely produced by the flat sectors of the Fermi surface.

The appearance of singularities in $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is momenta dependent since it is regulated by our choice of scattering channel. For $`𝐩_1+𝐩_2=\mathrm{𝟎}`$ , $`\mathrm{\Pi }_{}^{\left(0\right)}`$ is singular and $`\chi _{}^{\left(0\right)}`$ is finite. For $`𝐩_4𝐩_1=2k_F𝐲`$ only $`\chi _{}^{\left(0\right)}`$ is singular.

Thus in the Cooper channel for $`𝐩_1+𝐩_2=\mathrm{𝟎}`$ it follows that our perturbation theory expansion for $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_;`$ is dominated by the $`\mathrm{\Pi }_{}^{\left(0\right)}`$ terms in the diagram series. We obtain in this case

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_;\left(𝐩_1=𝐩_2;𝐩_3=𝐩_4;p_0\right)iU+iU\mathrm{\Pi }_{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(p_0\right)+iU^3\left({}_{}{}^{2}\mathrm{\Pi }_{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(p_0\right)\right)^2+\mathrm{}$$
(8)   
Following conventional renormalization theory procedure we can replace our original coupling function by its bare analogue so that all divergences are cancelled exactly in all orders of perturbation theory. For this let us define the bare coupling function $`U_{0;}(p_1,p_2;p_3,p_4)`$ such that if $`𝐩_1+𝐩_2=\mathrm{𝟎}`$

$$U_{0;}\left(𝐩_1=𝐩_2;𝐩_3=𝐩_4\right)=U+U^2\frac{2\lambda /\pi ^2}{k_F/m^{}}\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{2k_F\lambda /m^{}}{\omega }\right)+\mathrm{}$$
(9)   
with $`\omega `$ being an energy scale parameter which will eventually approach zero. Using the condition $`\omega U_0/\omega =0`$ we obtain from this result the renormalization group$`\left(\text{RG}\right)`$ equation appropriate for a Fermi liquid $`\beta \left(U\right)=\omega \frac{U}{\omega }=bU^2`$where $`b=\frac{2\lambda /\pi ^2}{k_F/m^{}}`$. This equation can be easily integrated out to give

$$U\left(\omega \right)=\frac{U\left(\mathrm{\Omega }\right)}{1+bU\left(\mathrm{\Omega }\right)\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Omega }}{\omega }\right)},$$
(10)   
where $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ is some fixed upper energy limit. Even if $`U\left(\mathrm{\Omega }\right)`$ is not small, $`U\left(\omega \right)`$ grows weaker for low values of $`\omega `$ signalling the existence of a trivial Landau fixed point for the renormalized $`U_;(p_1,p_2;p_3,p_4)`$.

Consider next the case in which $`𝐏=𝐩_4𝐩_1=2k_F𝐲`$ and $`𝐩_1+𝐩_2=2\mathrm{\Delta }𝐱`$ with $`𝐩_1=𝐩_3;𝐩_2=𝐩_4`$ and $`p_0=\omega 0`$. Using our perturbation theory expansion we find

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_;\left(𝐩_1=𝐩_3;𝐩_2=𝐩_4;\omega \right)iUiU^2\chi _{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(\omega \right)+iU^3\left(\chi _{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(\omega \right)\right)^2+\mathrm{}$$
(11)   
since for $`2\mathrm{\Delta }>\lambda `$ , the $`\chi _{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(\omega \right)`$ contributions dominate our perturbative expansion above. Following the same route as before we can define the bare interaction function $`U_{0;}(p_1,p_2;p_3,p_4)`$ for $`𝐩_4𝐩_1`$ $`=`$ $`𝐏`$ as

$$U_{0;}\left(𝐩_1=𝐩_3;𝐩_2=𝐩_4;𝐩_4𝐩_1=𝐏;\omega \right)=UU^2\frac{m^{}\left(\lambda \mathrm{\Delta }\right)}{2\pi ^2k_F}\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{2k_F\lambda /m^{}}{\omega }\right)+\mathrm{}$$
(12)   
As a result in this channel if we neglect the tweo-loop order terms the renormalized coupling $`U`$ satisfies the RG equation $`\beta \left(U\right)=\omega \frac{U}{\omega }=cU^2`$which when integrated out gives

$$U\left(\omega \right)=\frac{U\left(\mathrm{\Lambda }\right)}{1cU\left(\mathrm{\Lambda }\right)\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{\omega }\right)}$$
(13)   
for $`c=\frac{m^{}\left(\lambda \mathrm{\Delta }\right)}{2\pi ^2k_F}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ being an upper energy limit. Clearly the physical system is driven outside the domain of validity of perturbation theory if $`cU\left(\mathrm{\Lambda }\right)\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{\omega }\right)1`$. The Fermi liquid infrared fixed point is physically unattainable in this limit. In fact if we consider the two-loop order terms the $`\beta `$ function series becomes $`\beta \left(U\right)=cU^2aU^3+\mathrm{}`$where $`a=2c^2\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{2k_F\lambda /m^{}}{\mathrm{\Omega }}\right)`$. Thus there is a non-trivial fixed point $`U^{}=1/2c\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{2k_F\lambda /m^{}}{\mathrm{\Omega }}\right).`$ However since $`\left(\beta \left(U\right)/U\right)_U^{}<0`$ it is also infrared unstable.

Consider next the calculation of the self-energy $`\mathrm{\Sigma }\left(p\right)`$ up to two-loop order ( see Fig. 3 ). The one-loop diagram is trivial producing only a constant shift in the Fermi energy. The same goes for the two-loop diagram from Fig. 3 (b). However the remaining one gives a nontrivial contribution:

$$i\mathrm{\Sigma }_{}\left(p\right)=U^2\underset{q}{}G_{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(q\right)\chi _{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(qp\right)$$
(14)   
From our previous calculation we noticed that the singularity in $`\chi ^{\left(0\right)}`$ is produced by the flat sectors of the FS when there is perfect nesting between the patches related by the scattering process. Since $`p`$ is an external variable we choose for convenience $`𝐩=(\mathrm{\Delta },k_F)`$. In this way the relevant patch for the $`𝐤`$ integration is $`(0,k_F)`$. Taking into account that $`𝐪`$ is located in the patch $`(0,k_F)`$ we can evaluate $`\chi _{}^{\left(0\right)}\left(qp\right)`$ directly. If we replace the result in the Eq. (14) the self-energy reduces simply to

$$\mathrm{\Sigma }\left(p_0\right)=\frac{U^2\left(m^{}\left(\lambda \mathrm{\Delta }\right)\right)^2}{16\pi ^4\left(2k_F\right)^2}p_0\left[\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{2k_F\lambda /m^{}p_0i\delta }{p_0+i\delta }\right)+\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{2k_F\lambda /m^{}+p_0i\delta }{p_0i\delta }\right)\right]$$
(15)   
Therefore it follows from this result that in the limit $`p_00`$ the self-energy $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ reproduces the marginal Fermi liquid result $`Re\mathrm{\Sigma }\left(p_0\right)p_0\mathrm{ln}p_0`$ producing in this way a charge renormalization parameter $`Z`$ identically zero: $`Z=\left(1\frac{}{p_0}Re\mathrm{\Sigma }\left(p_0=0\right)\right)^1=0`$. The Fermi liquid states are in this way turned into a marginal Fermi liquid by the interaction effects produced by the flat sectors of the patched Fermi surface.

In conclusion, in this work we test the validity of the phenomenological picture of a patched FS composed of confined quasiparticle states (cold spots) separated by non-Fermi liquid ( hot spots ) sectors which are presumably responsible for the anomalous metallic properties observed in the normal phase of underdoped high-temperature superconductors. We consider a $`2d`$ disconnected Fermi surface composed of four different patches. In each of these patches there are conventional Fermi liquid states defined around their center as well as non-Fermi liquid states located in the border sectors. These latter states are modeled by single-particle states with flat Fermi surfaces. This representation is known to produce non-Fermi liquid behavior due to the presence of perfect nesting of the Fermi surface patches. For simplicity we assume that all particles interact locally but we take proper account of the spin degrees of freedom. Using a simplified model Lagrangian we calculate the one-particle irreducible function $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_;`$up to two-loop order. The perturbation series is momentum dependent. In the Cooper channel the expansion is dominated by the particle-particle susceptibility $`\mathrm{\Pi }_{}^{\left(0\right)}`$which is logarithmic divergent even if flat sectors are not present in our system. Making a renormalization group analysis we show that this channel is infrared stable with the renormalized repulsive coupling constant approaching the Landau trivial fixed point as we approach the Fermi surface. In contrast, in the forward scattering channel the perturbation series is dominated by the logarithmic divergence of $`\chi _{}^{\left(0\right)}`$which is now produced by the flat sectors of FS. This time the first derivative of the $`\beta \left(U\right)`$with respect to $`U`$is negative definite. The system is now infrared unstable and only reaches a negative non-trivial fixed point in the ultraviolet limit. Finally we calculate the quasiparticle self-energy up two-loop order. We show that one of the second order diagram produces a non-trivial contribution to $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. When we evaluate this term we find that it reproduces the marginal Fermi liquid result $`\mathrm{Re}\mathrm{\Sigma }\omega \mathrm{ln}\omega `$when $`\omega 0`$. Therefore we can conclude that the confined Fermi liquid states, the so-called cold spots, are drastically altered and turned into a marginal Fermi liquid by the quasiparticles located in the flat sectors of the Fermi surface.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Two of us ( AF and TS ) would like to acknowledge financial support from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq) and Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP).