In the presence of nonlocal phase shift effects, a quasiparticle can remain topologically stable even in a spin-charge separation state due to the confinement effect introduced by the phase shifts at finite doping. True deconfinement only happens in
the zero-doping limit where a bare hole can lose its integrity and decay into holon and spinon elementary excitations. The Fermi surface structure is completely different in these two cases, from a large band-structure-like one to four Fermi points in one-hole case, and we argue that the so-called underdoped regime actually corresponds to a situation in between.
The motion of a single hole in a Mott antiferromagnet is investigated based on the t-J model. An exact expression of the energy spectrum is obtained, in which the irreparable phase string effect [Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 5102 (1996)] is explicitly presen
t. By identifying the phase string effect with spin backflow, we point out that spin-charge separation must exist in such a system: the doped hole has to decay into a neutral spinon and a spinless holon, together with the phase string. We show that while the spinon remains coherent, the holon motion is deterred by the phase string, resulting in its localization in space. We calculate the electron spectral function which explains the line shape of the spectral function as well as the ``quasiparticle spectrum observed in angle-resolved photoemission experiments. Other analytic and numerical approaches are discussed based on the present framework.
We present a self-consistent RVB theory which unifies the metallic (superconducting) phase with the half-filling antiferromagnetic (AF) phase. Two crucial factors in this theory include the RVB condensation which controls short-range AF spin correlat
ions and the phase string effect introduced by hole hopping as a key doping effect. We discuss both the uniform and non-uniform mean-field solutions and show the unique features of the characteristic spin energy scale, superconducting transition temperature, and the phase diagram, which are all consistent with the experimental measurements of high-$T_c$ cuprates.
Quasiparticle properties are explored in an effective theory of the $t-J$ model which includes two important components: spin-charge separation and unrenormalizable phase shift. We show that the phase shift effect indeed causes the system to be a non
-Fermi liquid as conjectured by Anderson on a general ground. But this phase shift also drastically changes a conventional perception of quasiparticles in a spin-charge separation state: an injected hole will remain {em stable} due to the confinement of spinon and holon by the phase shift field despite the background is a spinon-holon sea. True {em deconfinement} only happens in the {em zero-doping} limit where a bare hole will lose its integrity and decay into holon and spinon elementary excitations. The Fermi surface structure is completely different in these two cases, from a large band-structure-like one to four Fermi points in one-hole case, and we argue that the so-called underdoped regime actually corresponds to a situation in between, where the ``gap-like effect is amplified further by a microscopic phase separation at low temperature. Unique properties of the single-electron propagator in both normal and superconducting states are studied by using the equation of motion method. We also comment on some of influential ideas proposed in literature related to the Mott-Hubbard insulator and offer a unified view based on the present consistent theory.
