paper

Models of mesoscopic time-resolved current detection

arXiv:0906.0038 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.81.125112

Abstract

Quantum transport in mesoscopic conductors is essentially governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. One of the major open questions of quantum mechanics is what happens if non-commuting observables are measured simultaneously. Since current operators at different times do not commute, the high-frequency correlation functions of the current are realization of this fundamental quantum question. We formulate this problem in the context of measurements of finite-frequency current cumulants in a general quantum point contact, which are the subject to ongoing experimental effort. To this end, we present two models of detectors that correspond to a weak time-resolved measurement of the electronic current in a mesoscopic junction. In both cases, the backaction of the detector leads to observable corrections to the current correlations functions involving the so-called noise susceptibilities. As a result, we propose a reinterpretation of environmental corrections to the finite-frequency cumulants as inevitable effect resulting from basic quantum mechanical principles. Finally we make concrete predictions for the temperature-, voltage-, and frequency-dependence of the third cumulant, which could be verified directly using current experimental techniques.

19 pages, 5 figures, considerably extended and corrected version

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