  Time-resolved photoemission experiments can reveal fascinating quantum
dynamics of correlated electrons. However, the thermalization of the electronic
system is typically so fast that very short probe pulses are necessary to
resolve the time evolution of the quantum state, and this leads to poor energy
resolution due to the energy-time uncertainty relation. Although the
photoemission intensity can be calculated from the nonequilibrium electronic
Green functions, the converse procedure is therefore difficult. We analyze a
hypothetical time-resolved photoemission experiment on a correlated electronic
system, described by the Falicov-Kimball model in dynamical mean-field theory,
which relaxes between metallic and insulating phases. We find that the
real-time Green function which describes the transient behavior during the
buildup of the metallic state cannot be determined directly from the
photoemission signal. On the other hand, the characteristic
collapse-and-revival oscillations of an excited Mott insulator can be observed
as oscillating weight in the center of the Mott gap in the time-dependent
photoemission spectrum.
