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Long-lived nonequilibrium states in the Hubbard model with an electric field

We study the single-band Hubbard model in the presence of a large spatially uniform electric field out of equilibrium. Using the Keldysh nonequilibrium formalism, we solve the problem using perturbation theory in the Coulomb interaction U. We present numerical results for the charge current, the total energy of the system and the double occupancy on an infinite-dimensional hypercubic lattice with nearest-neighbor hopping. The system is isolated from an external bath and is in the paramagnetic state. We show that an electric field pulse can drive the system to a steady nonequilibrium state, which does not evolve into a thermal state. We compare results obtained within second-order perturbation theory (SOPT), self-consistent second-order perturbation theory (SCSOPT) and iterated perturbation theory (IPT). We also discuss the importance of initial conditions for a system which is not coupled to an external bath.