Dielectric breakdown of strongly correlated insulators in one dimension: Universal formula from non-Hermitian sine-Gordon theory

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Hauptverfasser: Takasan, Kazuaki, Nakagawa, Masaya, Kawakami, Norio
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2019
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author Takasan, Kazuaki
Nakagawa, Masaya
Kawakami, Norio
author_facet Takasan, Kazuaki
Nakagawa, Masaya
Kawakami, Norio
contents Application of a strong electric field to insulators induces a finite current. This phenomenon is called dielectric breakdown and is known as a fundamental nonequilibrium and nonlinear transport phenomenon in solids. Here, we study the dielectric breakdown of generic strongly correlated insulators in one dimension. Combining bosonization techniques with a quantum tunneling theory, we develop an effective field-theoretical description of dielectric breakdown using a non-Hermitian sine-Gordon theory. Then, we derive an analytic formula for the threshold field, which is a many-body generalization of the Landau-Zener formula. Importantly, we point out that the threshold field contains a previously overlooked factor originating from the charges of elementary excitations, which should be significant when a system has fractionalized excitations. We apply our results to integrable lattice models and confirm that our formula is valid in a broad range including the weak coupling regime, indicating its wide potential applicability. Our results unveil universal aspects of nonlinear and nonequilibrium transport phenomena in various strongly correlated insulators.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_1908_06107
institution arXiv
publishDate 2019
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Dielectric breakdown of strongly correlated insulators in one dimension: Universal formula from non-Hermitian sine-Gordon theory
Takasan, Kazuaki
Nakagawa, Masaya
Kawakami, Norio
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Quantum Gases
Application of a strong electric field to insulators induces a finite current. This phenomenon is called dielectric breakdown and is known as a fundamental nonequilibrium and nonlinear transport phenomenon in solids. Here, we study the dielectric breakdown of generic strongly correlated insulators in one dimension. Combining bosonization techniques with a quantum tunneling theory, we develop an effective field-theoretical description of dielectric breakdown using a non-Hermitian sine-Gordon theory. Then, we derive an analytic formula for the threshold field, which is a many-body generalization of the Landau-Zener formula. Importantly, we point out that the threshold field contains a previously overlooked factor originating from the charges of elementary excitations, which should be significant when a system has fractionalized excitations. We apply our results to integrable lattice models and confirm that our formula is valid in a broad range including the weak coupling regime, indicating its wide potential applicability. Our results unveil universal aspects of nonlinear and nonequilibrium transport phenomena in various strongly correlated insulators.
title Dielectric breakdown of strongly correlated insulators in one dimension: Universal formula from non-Hermitian sine-Gordon theory
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Quantum Gases
url https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.06107