Effects of in-plane oxygens on the magnetic response in cuprates

A brief analysis of ARPES, Raman, and neutron data is used to show the importance of the oxygen degree of freedom for the metallic phase of cuprate high-Tc superconductors. It is based on published results and a number of new calculations, relevant to Raman and neutron scattering in the metallic underdoped and optimally doped regime. They are placed in the context of a recently developed theoretical understanding of the microscopic interplay between metallicity and local valence-bond fluctuations in the cuprates. It is argued that the oxygen degree of freedom is dominantly responsible for the metallicity in the normal state. The coexistence of metallic oxygen-dominated states with localized copper-dominated states is a key experimental constraint on the microscopic understanding of the normal-state pseudogap proposed here, especially of its strong k-dependence.