Anistropic phenomena in strongly correlated electron systems

This thesis is concerned with momentum anisotropy in strongly correlated electron systems, and explores its origin and its consequences through two contrasting projects. The first is a study of the temperature dependences of magnetotransport quantities in the normal state of the cuprate high-temperature superconductors. A phenomenological anisotropic small-angle scattering model is investigated; Hall effect measurements can be reproduced for parameters sufficiently close to particle-hole symmetry, but the experimentally observed magnetoresistance cannot be explained. The second project studies the phase diagram and quasiparticle properties of the square lattice Hubbard model within two-site cluster dynamical mean field theory (DMFT), at zero temperature. The "two-site" approach provides a drastically simplified but physically motivated self-consistency scheme for DMFT. This is combined for the first time with cluster DMFT, within which different magnetic orders and momentum anisotropy may be represented consistently. The extent of antiferromagnetism is determined; phases are discovered where the Fermi surface consists of small hole pockets, and the Mott transition happens as these pockets shrink to points. Anisotropic phenomena observed in the cuprates are reproduced by the theory; a pseudogap destroys the Fermi surface in some places, leaving behind Fermi arcs that closed into hole pockets by lines with very small quasiparticle residue