Charge and spin inhomogeneity as a key to the physics of the high-Tc cuprates

We present a coherent scenario for the physics of cuprate superconductors, which is based on a charge-driven inhomogeneity, i.e. the "stripe phase". We show that spin and charge critical fluctuations near the stripe instability of strongly correlated electron systems provide an effective interaction between the quasiparticles, which is strongly momentum, frequency, temperature and doping dependent, This accounts for the various phenomena occurring in the overdoped, optimally and underdoped regimes both for the normal and the superconducting phase, (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.