Non-equilibrium Luttinger liquid: Zero-bias anomaly and dephasing

TL;DR

This paper investigates a non-equilibrium Luttinger liquid, revealing that electron-electron interactions cause dephasing and smearing of zero-bias anomalies without energy relaxation.

Contribution

It develops a theoretical framework for tunneling into non-equilibrium Luttinger liquids, highlighting the unique coexistence of dephasing and lack of energy relaxation.

Findings

Finite dephasing rate due to electron-electron scattering.

Absence of relaxation in energy distribution functions.

Smearing of zero-bias anomalies in tunneling density of states.

Abstract

A one-dimensional system of interacting electrons out of equilibrium is studied in the framework of the Luttinger liquid model. We analyze several setups and develop a theory of tunneling into such systems. A remarkable property of the problem is the absence of relaxation in energy distribution functions of left- and right-movers, yet the presence of the finite dephasing rate due to electron-electron scattering, which smears zero-bias-anomaly singularities in the tunneling density of states.