Creation of Soliton Pairs by Electric Fields in Charge-Density—Wave Condensates

The creation probability of soliton-antisoliton pairs due to quantum-mechanical tunneling in the presence of an electric field in charge-density---wave condensates is calculated. This process gives rise to an additional electric conductivity strongly nonlinear in the electric field, which may account in part for the anomalous conductivity observed in NbSe₃.