Evidence for Pairing above the Transition Temperature of Cuprate Superconductors from the Electronic Dispersion in the Pseudogap Phase

Abstract

In the underdoped high temperature superconductors, instead of a complete Fermi surface above T_c, only disconnected Fermi arcs appear, separated by regions that still exhibit an energy gap. We show that in this pseudogap phase, the energy-momentum relation of electronic excitations near E_F behaves like the dispersion of a normal metal on the Fermi arcs, but like that of a superconductor in the gapped regions. We argue that this dichotomy in the dispersion is difficult to reconcile with a competing order parameter, but is consistent with pairing without condensation.