  We investigate a microscopic model for strongly correlated electrons with
both on-site and nearest neighbor Coulomb repulsion on a 2D square lattice.
This exhibits a state in which electrons undergo a ``somersault'' in their
internal spin-space (spin-flux) as they traverse a closed loop in external
coordinate space. When this spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulator is
doped, the ground state is a liquid of charged, bosonic meron-vortices, which
for topological reasons are created in vortex-antivortex pairs. The magnetic
exchange energy of the distorted AFM background leads to a logarithmic
vortex-antivortex attraction which overcomes the direct Coulomb repulsion
between holes localized on the vortex cores. This leads to the appearance of
pre-formed charged pairs. We use the Configuration Interaction (CI) Method to
study the quantum translational and rotational motion of various charged
magnetic solitons and soliton pairs. The CI method systematically describes
fluctuation and quantum tunneling corrections to the Hartree-Fock Approximation
(HFA). We find that the lowest energy charged meron-antimeron pairs exhibit
d-wave rotational symmetry, consistent with the symmetry of the cuprate
superconducting order parameter. For a single hole in the 2D AFM plane, we find
a precursor to spin-charge separation in which a conventional charged
spin-polaron dissociates into a singly charged meron-antimeron pair. This model
provides a unified microscopic basis for (i) non-Fermi-liquid transport
properties, (ii) d-wave preformed charged carrier pairs, (iii) mid-infrared
optical absorption, (iv) destruction of AFM long range order with doping and
other magnetic properties, and (v) certain aspects of angled resolved
photo-emission spectroscopy (ARPES).
