1996/07/19 by L. S. Levitov, Leonid S. Levitov, Hyunwoo Lee +3 · 26 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advancements in Semiconductor Devices and Circuit Design #Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #cond-mat
paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/1.531672
published as J. Math. Phys. 37, 4845 (1996) · 43 pages, LaTeX, to appear in the Journal of Mathematical Physics special volume on Mesoscopic Physics
arxiv created 1996/07/19 · openalex publication_date 1996/10/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
A theory of electron counting statistics in quantum transport is presented. It involves an idealized scheme of current measurement using a spin 1/2 coupled to the current so that it precesses at the rate proportional to the current. Within such an approach, counting charge without breaking the circuit is possible. As an application, we derive the counting statistics in a single channel conductor at finite temperature and bias. For a perfectly transmitting channel the counting distribution is Gaussian, both for zero-point fluctuations and at finite temperature. At constant bias and low temperature the distribution is binomial, i.e., it arises from Bernoulli statistics. Another application considered is the noise due to short current pulses that involve few electrons. We find the time-dependence of the driving potential that produces coherent noise-minimizing current pulses, and display analogies of such current states with quantum-mechanical coherent states.