Quench dynamics of correlated quantum dots

We study the relaxation dynamics of a quantum dot with local Coulomb correlations coupled to two noninteracting leads which are held in grand-canonical equilibrium. Only charge degrees of freedom are considered and the dot is described by a model which in the scaling limit becomes equivalent to the interacting resonant level model. We examine the time evolution of the current and the dot occupancy resulting from changes in the dot-lead coupling, the dots' on-site energy, or the charging energy. Abrupt and smooth parameter changes as well as setups with and without driving bias voltage are considered. For biased dots, we investigate the often studied response after turning on the dot-lead coupling but also the experimentally more relevant case in which the voltage is turned on. We identify and explain a variety of interesting many-body effects, and we clarify the role of initial correlations.