Theoretical Physics Colloquium

Keldysh field theory of a driven dissipative Mott insulator: nonequilibrium response and phase transitions

by Mr. Sarath Sankar (TIFR)

Tuesday, November 27, 2018 from to (Asia/Kolkata)
at AG69
Description
We develop a effective large-N Keldysh field theory to study the nonequilibrium response of a dissipative Mott insulator chain upon turning on a uniform electric field. The transient response of the electric current exhibits Bloch-like oscillations. The presence of dissipation causes the oscillations to decay as an inverse square law in time ultimately relaxing to a steady DC regime. Further we show that the system undergoes a nonequilibrium phase transition to a bad metal regime at a critical value of the electric field. Our study sheds light on the approach of a dissipative strongly correlated system to a nonequilibrium steady state and also provides an analytical microscopic framework which can facilitate investigations of other kinds of nonequilibrium phenomena.