Numerical evidence of fluctuating stripes in the normal state of high- T c cuprate superconductors

Abstract

Numerics converging on stripes The Hubbard model (HM) describes the behavior of interacting particles on a lattice where the particles can hop from one lattice site to the next. Although it appears simple, solving the HM when the interactions are repulsive, the particles are fermions, and the temperature is low—all of which applies in the case of correlated electron systems—is computationally challenging. Two groups have tackled this important problem. Huang et al. studied a three-band version of the HM at finite temperature, whereas Zheng et al. used five complementary numerical methods that kept each other in check to discern the ground state of the HM. Both groups found evidence for stripes, or one-dimensional charge and/or spin density modulations. Science , this issue p. 1161 , p. 1155