Nonlinear doublon production in a Mott insulator: Landau-Dykhne method applied to an integrable model

Doublon-hole pair production, which takes place during dielectric breakdown in a Mott insulator subject to a strong laser or a static electric field, is studied in the one-dimensional Hubbard model. Two nonlinear effects cause the excitation, i.e., multiphoton absorption and quantum tunneling. Keldysh crossover between the two mechanisms occurs as the field strength and photon energy are changed. The calculation is done analytically by the Landau-Dykhne method in combination with the Bethe ansatz solution, and the results are compared with those of the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group. Using this method, we calculate the distribution function of the generated doublon-hole pairs and show that it drastically changes as we cross the Keldysh crossover line. After calculating the tunneling threshold for several representative one-dimensional Mott insulators, possible experimental tests of the theory are proposed, such as angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of the upper Hubbard band in the quantum tunneling regime. We also discuss the relationship of the present theory with a many-body extension of electron-positron pair production in nonlinear quantum electrodynamics, known as the Schwinger mechanism.