Itinerant-localized model of strongly correlated electrons: Fermi-surface reconstruction

A number of recent experiments have highlighted a remarkable transformation of a large cuprate Fermi surface into small pockets in the underdoped region signalling a breakdown of a conventional Fermi liquid theory in the PG phase. A few phenomenological models have been recently put forward to account for this transformation. However, none of those models have been derived microscopically nor are totally compatible with experimental data. In the present work we show that the observed Fermi-surface reconstruction can be accounted for directly within a standard microscopic $t-J$ model of correlated electrons, provided strong electron correlations are properly taken into account.