Steady-state properties of a nonequilibrium Fermi gas

The current-carrying steady state that arises in the middle of a metallic wire connected to macroscopic leads is characterized regarding its response functions, correlations, and entanglement entropy. The spectral function and the dynamical structure factor show clear nonequilibrium signatures accessible by state-of-the-art techniques. In contrast with the equilibrium case, the entanglement entropy is extensive with logarithmic corrections at zero temperature that depend on the lead-wire coupling and, in a nonanalytic way, on voltage. This shows that some robust universal quantities found in gapless equilibrium phases do not persist away from equilibrium.