Theory of Underdoped Cuprates

We develop a slave-boson theory for the t-J model at finite doping which respects an SU(2) symmetry—a symmetry previously known to be important at half filling. The mean field phase diagram is found to be consistent with the phases observed in the cuprate superconductors, which contain d-wave superconductor, spin gap, strange metal, and Fermi liquid phases. The spin gap phase is best understood as the staggered flux phase, which is nevertheless translationally invariant for physical quantities. The electron spectral function shows small Fermi pockets at low doping which continuously evolve into the large Fermi surface at high doping concentrations.