Abstract
We study the quantum nonlinear response to an applied electric field of a one-dimensional pinned charge-density wave or Luttinger liquid in the presence of disorder. From an explicit construction of low-lying metastable states and of bounce instanton solutions between them, we demonstrate quantum creep as well as a sharp crossover at towards a linear response form consistent with variable-range hopping arguments, but dependent only on electronic degrees of freedom.
- Received 12 March 2003
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.056603
©2003 American Physical Society