Finite-frequency optical absorption in 1D conductors and Mott-Hubbard insulators

The frequency-dependent conductivity is studied for the one-dimensional Hub bard model, using a selection rule, the Bethe ansatz, and symmetries associ ated with conservation laws. For densities where the system is metallic the absorption spectrum has two contributions, a Drude peak at omega = 0 separ ated by a pseudogap from a broad absorption band whose lower edge is charac terized by a nonclassical critical exponent. Our findings shed new light on the "far infrared puzzle" and other optical properties of metallic organic chain compounds.