Probing the symmetry of the pseudogap in cuprates superconductors with Angular Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES)*

There is still no consensus on the origins of the pseudogap in cuprate superconductors; recent studies have shown that it is probably not a preformed cooper pair state, but a completely different state that competes with superconductivity. Some of the possible different states include a charge density state where electrons scatter between a Q-vector connecting the nested bands close to ($\pi $,0) or a spin density state that is derived from the ($\pi $,$\pi )$ Q-vector. The difference between the two, or other exotic states, might be ascertained by looking at the symmetry of the pseudogap as a function of momentum space. We use Angular Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES) to probe this symmetry or lack thereof in cuprates.