Effect of next-nearest neighbor hopping on the single-particle excitations at finite temperature

Abstract

In the half-filled one-orbital Hubbard model on a square lattice, we study the effect of next-nearest neighbor hopping on the single-particle spectral function at finite temperature using an exact-diagonalization + Monte-Carlo based approach to the simulation process. We find that the pseudogap-like dip, existing in the density of states in between the Néel temperature T_NTN and a relatively higher temperature scale T^*T*, is accompanied with a significant asymmetry in the hole- and particle-excitation energy along the high-symmetry directions as well as along the normal-state Fermi surface. On moving from (\pi/2, \pi/2π/2,π/2) toward (\pi, 0)(π,0) along the normal state Fermi surface, the hole-excitation energy increases, a behavior remarkably similar to what is observed in the dd-wave state and pseudogap phase of high-T_cTc cuprates, whereas the particle-excitation energy decreases. The quasiparticle peak height is the largest near (\pi/2, \pi/2π/2,π/2) whereas it is the smallest near (\pi, 0)(π,0). These spectral features survive beyond T_NTN. The temperature window T_N ≲ T ≲ T^*TN≲T≲T* shrinks with an increase in the next-nearest neighbor hopping, which indicates that the next-nearest neighbor hopping may not be supportive to the pseudogap-like features.