Strange Metal and Superconductor in the Two-Dimensional Yukawa-Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev Model

Phys Rev Lett. 2024 Nov 1;133(18):186502. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.186502.

Abstract

The two-dimensional Yukawa-Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (2D-YSYK) model provides a universal theory of quantum phase transitions in metals in the presence of quenched random spatial fluctuations in the local position of the quantum critical point. It has a Fermi surface coupled to a scalar field by spatially random Yukawa interactions. We present full numerical solutions of a self-consistent disorder averaged analysis of the 2D-YSYK model in both the normal and superconducting states, obtaining electronic spectral functions, frequency-dependent conductivity, and superfluid stiffness. Our results reproduce key aspects of observations in the cuprates as analyzed by Michon et al. [Nat. Commun. 14, 3033 (2023)NCAOBW2041-172310.1038/s41467-023-38762-5]. We also find a regime of increasing zero temperature superfluid stiffness with decreasing superconducting critical temperature, as is observed in bulk cuprates.