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

Abstract

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.