We show that the experimental evidence presented in this paper is insufficient to support its conclusions.
The discovery of high temperature superconductivity in the cuprates in 1986 triggered a spectacular outpouring of creative and innovative scientific inquiry. Much has been learned over the ensuing 28 years about the novel forms of quantum matter that
are exhibited in this strongly correlated electron system. This progress has been made possible by improvements in sample quality, coupled with the development and refinement of advanced experimental techniques. In part, avenues of inquiry have been motivated by theoretical developments, and in part new theoretical frameworks have been conceived to account for unanticipated experimental observations. An overall qualitative understanding of the nature of the superconducting state itself has been achieved, while profound unresolved issues have come into increasingly sharp focus concerning the astonishing complexity of the phase diagram, the unprecedented prominence of various forms of collective fluctuations, and the simplicity and insensitivity to material details of the normal state at elevated temperatures. New conceptual approaches, drawing from string theory, quantum information theory, and various numerically implemented approximate approaches to problems of strong correlations are being explored as ways to come to grips with this rich tableaux of interrelated phenomena.
We present a comprehensive inelastic neutron scattering study of the magnetic excitations in twin-free YBa(2)Cu(3)O(6.6) (Tc=61 K) for 5 K < T < 290 K. Taking full account of the instrumental resolution, we derive analytical model functions for the m
agnetic susceptibility chi(Q,omega) at T = 5 K and 70 K in absolute units. Our models are supported by previous results on similar samples and are valid at least up to excitation energies of omega = 100 meV. The detailed knowledge of chi(Q,omega) permits quantitative comparison to the results of complementary techniques including angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), as demonstrated in Dahm et al., Nature Phys. 5, 217, (2009). Based on accurate modeling of the effect of the resolution function on the detected intensity, we determine important intrinsic features of the spin excitation spectrum, with a focus on the differences above and below Tc. In particular, at T = 70 K the spectrum exhibits a pronounced twofold in-plane anisotropy at low energies, which evolves towards fourfold rotational symmetry at high energies, and the relation dispersion is Y-shaped. At T = 5 K, on the other hand, the spectrum develops a continuous, downward-dispersing resonant mode with weaker in-plane anisotropy. We understand this topology change as arising from the competition between superconductivity and the same electronic liquid-crystal state as observed in YBa(2)Cu(3)O(6.45). We discuss our data in the context of different theoretical scenarios suggested to explain this state.
