We study the Kondo effect in a quantum dot subject to an external ac field.
The Kondo effect can be probed by measuring the de current induced by an a
uxiliary de bias V-dc applied across the dot. In the absence of ac perturba
tion, the corresponding differential conductance G(V-dc) is known to exhibi
t a sharp peak at V-dc = 0, which is the manifestation of the Kondo effect.
There exists only one energy scale, the Kondo temperature TK, which contro
ls all the low-energy physics of the system; G is some universal function o
f eV(dc)/T-K. We demonstrate that the dot driven out of equilibrium by an a
c field is also characterized by a universal behavior: the conductance G de
pends on the ac field only through two dimensionless parameters, which are
the frequency omega and the amplitude of the ac perturbation, both divided
by T-K. We analytically find the large- and small-frequency asymptotes of t
he universal dependence of G on these parameters. The obtained results allo
w us to predict the behavior of the conductance in the crossover regime h o
mega similar to T-K.