I am currently going through the Nature review on cuprate superconductors by Keimer at all and I am having a bit of difficulty understanding this sentence, which is located near the top of page 181:
Although the large zero-point energy of electrons in a usual metal results in a quantum ‘rigidity’ that greatly suppresses all forms of inhomogeneous states, the Mott physics and the short-range antiferromagnetic correlations inherited from the undoped ‘parent’ compound combine to produce a local tendency to phase separation and various forms of order, which spontaneously break the translational symmetry of the underlying crystal
Specifically, I am having trouble understanding the first part: how the large zero-point energy of electrons results in a 'quantum rigidity' (what is this?) that greatly suppresses all forms of inhomogeneous states (how?)
As far as I understand it, a large zero point energy means that there is a greater temperature range over which quantum fluctuations dominate. However, I do not understand how these fluctuations can result in rigidity. Any insights are much appreciated!
