Universal correlation between H-linear magnetoresistance and T-linear resistivity in high-temperature superconductors

The signature feature of the ‘strange metal’ state of high-T_c cuprates—its linear-in-temperature resistivity—has a coefficient α₁ that correlates with T_c, as expected were α₁ derived from scattering off the same bosonic fluctuations that mediate pairing. Recently, an anomalous linear-in-field magnetoresistance (=γ₁H) has also been observed, but only over a narrow doping range, leaving its relation to the strange metal state and to the superconductivity unclear. Here, we report in-plane magnetoresistance measurements on three hole-doped cuprate families spanning a wide range of temperatures, magnetic field strengths and doping. In contrast to expectations from Boltzmann transport theory, γ₁ is found to correlate universally with α₁. A phenomenological model incorporating real-space inhomogeneity is proposed to explain this correlation. Within this picture, superconductivity in hole-doped cuprates is governed not by the strength of quasiparticle interactions with a bosonic bath, but by the concentration of strange metallic carriers.