Temperature-induced spectral weight transfer in Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_{8+delta}: a conventional view

In contrast with the recent photoemission observations by Shen et al. of anomalous temperature-induced momentum-dependent spectral weight transfer in Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+delta}, we find that in the same material, in spite of the unusual spectral lineshape change between superconducting and normal states, the integrated spectral weight displays minimum variation as a function of temperature, which is in agreement with the sum rule of angle-resolved photoemission: the integrated spectral weight is proportional to the momentum density, n(k).