Vertex corrections to the optical conductivity in the square lattice Hubbard model and their role for the high-temperature transport

Calculating transport properties presents a great challenge in the study of strongly correlated electrons, particularly in two dimensions where the non-local processes and the vertex corrections are important, but remain poorly understood. We study the Hubbard model on the square lattice in the strongly correlated regime. We use several complementary state-of-the-art numerical methods to disentangle the different effects and resolve the problem conclusively at high temperatures. In this regime, non-local correlations and long-distance quantum fluctuations have little impact, yet the vertex corrections survive and substantially suppress resistivity. Our study becomes particularly relevant in the light of recent experiments on optical lattices that provide realizations of the two-dimensional Hubbard model in a similar parameter regime.