  The pseudogap regime of the cuprate high-temperature superconductors is
characterized by a variety of competing orders, the nature of which are still
widely debated. Recent experiments have provided evidence for electron nematic
order, in which the electron fluid breaks rotational symmetry while preserving
translational invariance. Raman spectroscopy, with its ability to symmetry
resolve low energy excitations, is a unique tool that can be used to assess
nematic fluctuations and nematic ordering tendencies. Here, we compare results
from determinant quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the Hubbard model to
experimental results from Raman spectroscopy in
$\text{La}_{2-x}\text{Sr}_{x}\text{CuO}_{4}$, which show a prominent increase
in the $B_{1g}$ response around 10% hole doping as the temperature decreases,
indicative of a rise in nematic fluctuations at low energy. Our results support
a picture of nematic fluctuations with $B_{1g}$ symmetry occurring in
underdoped cuprates, which may arise from melted stripes at elevated
temperatures.
