Robust spin pseudogap and spin-charge separation in the $\sigma t$-$J$ model

Abstract

The $\sigma t$-$J$ model, obtained from the usual $t$-$J$ model by flipping the sign of the spin-down hopping term, has been proposed to eliminate the strong interference between doped holes and the spin background, known as the phase string effect. In this work, we investigate the finite-temperature properties of the $\sigma t$-$J$ model using infinite projected entangled-pair state (iPEPS) algorithms, in comparison with the $t$-$J$ model and its easy-plane variants. We show that these models share similar spin-pseudogap thermodynamics, with a maximum in the spin susceptibility at $T^* \sim J$ and a broad specific-heat peak. Tensor network renormalization (TNR) further provides strong evidences for a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition in the spin sector of the $\sigma t$-$J$ model at a lower temperature $T_\text{BKT} < T^*$ due to its reduced $\mathrm{U}(1)$ spin-rotation symmetry. Crucially, in contrast to the $t$-$J$ model and to its easy-plane variants that also exhibit BKT transitions, these signatures remain robust upon doping: the doped holes preserve and even enhance the antiferromagnetic correlations in the $xy$ spin plane, leading to a weak doping dependence of both $T^*$ and $T_\text{BKT}$. Finally, we develop a slave-fermion mean-field theory for the $\sigma t$-$J$ model, whose projective symmetry group (PSG) is selected based on numerically determined hopping and pairing correlations, and show that it explains the robust spin pseudogap upon doping.