Nonlocality can generate ω/T scaling without criticality in high Tc strange metals
Abstract
Photoemission spectroscopy on high Tc superconductors find a puzzling nodal self-energy with ω/T scaling and an exponent varying continuously with doping. We propose a mechanism: nonlocality induced by poorly screened effective repulsions Vα(r) ∼ 1/rα, where a continuously doping-dependent exponent 1 ≤ α≤ 3 interpolates between the Mott insulating and Fermi liquid limits. We develop a phenomenology of hydrodynamic screening, finding a scale-covariant quasiparticle decay rate Γ(ω,T) ∝ Tγ Φ(ω/T) in energy ω and temperature T, with γ= 2−1/α for nonlocal $ 1 < α< 2$. Our results naturally capture the optimally doped to overdoped regimes, whereas the underdoped regime is qualitatively distinct. In our theory, spectroscopy-fitted exponents directly probe the charged fluid's effective spatial nonlocality, providing a way to falsify the theory by comparing photoemission spectroscopy against electron energy loss spectroscopy. More broadly, nonlocality cautions us to not immediately infer quantum critical phenomena when ω/T scaling is experimentally observed.
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BibTeX
@misc{sim2026nonlocality,
title = {{Nonlocality can generate $ω/T$ scaling without criticality in high $T_c$ strange metals}},
author = {Jian Xian Sim},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.03013},
eprint = {2608.03013},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.03013},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Nonlocality can generate ω/T scaling without criticality in high T_c strange metals
AU - Jian Xian Sim
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/08
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.03013
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.03013
AB - Photoemission spectroscopy on high T_c superconductors find a puzzling nodal self-energy with ω/T scaling and an exponent varying continuously with doping. We propose a mechanism: nonlocality induced by poorly screened effective repulsions V_α(r) ∼ 1/r^α, where a continuously doping-dependent exponent 1 ≤ α≤ 3 interpolates between the Mott insulating and Fermi liquid limits. We develop a phenomenology of hydrodynamic screening, finding a scale-covariant quasiparticle decay rate Γ(ω,T) ∝ T^γ Φ(ω/T) in energy ω and temperature T, with γ= 2−1/α for nonlocal $ 1 < α< 2$. Our results naturally capture the optimally doped to overdoped regimes, whereas the underdoped regime is qualitatively distinct. In our theory, spectroscopy-fitted exponents directly probe the charged fluid's effective spatial nonlocality, providing a way to falsify the theory by comparing photoemission spectroscopy against electron energy loss spectroscopy. More broadly, nonlocality cautions us to not immediately infer quantum critical phenomena when ω/T scaling is experimentally observed.
ER -