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arXiv:0806.4110 · Physical Review Letters

Formulation of Time-Resolved Counting Statistics Based on a Positive-Operator-Valued Measure

Adam Bednorz, Wolfgang Belzig

Published Nov 14, 2008• 31 citations
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Abstract

We propose a derivation of the full counting statistics of electronic current based on a positive-operator-valued measure. Our approach justifies the Levitov-Lesovik formula in the long-time limit, but can be generalized to the detection of finite-frequency noise correlations. The combined action of the projection postulate and the quantum formula for current noise at high frequencies imply an additional white noise. Estimates for this additional noise are in accordance with known experiments. We propose an experimental test of our conjecture by a simultaneous measurement of high- and low-frequency noise.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.101.206803

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We propose a derivation of the full counting statistics of electronic current based on a positive-operator-valued measure. Our approach justifies the Levitov-Lesovik formula in the long-time limit, but can be generalized to the detection of finite-frequency noise correlations. The combined action of the projection postulate and the quantum formula for current noise at high frequencies imply an additional white noise. Estimates for this additional noise are in accordance with known experiments. We propose an experimental test of our conjecture by a simultaneous measurement of high- and low-frequency noise.
We show that the standard Keldysh formulation of full counting statistics breaks down, when trying to interpret it directly in terms of a probability for time-dependent currents, since it leads to negative probability density. We propose a positive operator valued measure, which effectively accounts for some detector dynamics, but reproduces the Keldysh result in the low-frequency limit. However, the detector dynamics adds a large white Gaussian detection noise, which should be visible in experiment. The original negative probability can be measured indirectly by two independent detectors.
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 noncommuting 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.
Exact numerical results for the full counting statistics (FCS) for a one-dimensional tight-binding model of noninteracting electrons are presented without using an idealized measuring device. The two initially separate subsystems are connected at t=0t=0t=0 and the exact time evolution for the large but finite combined system is obtained numerically via a finite dimensional determinant. Even for surprisingly short times the approximate description of the time evolution with the help of scattering states agrees well with the exact result for the local current matrix elements and the FCS. An additional approximation has to be made to recover the Levitov-Lesovik formula in the limit where the system size becomes infinite and afterwards the long time limit is addressed. The derivation of the Levitov-Lesovik formula is generalized to more general geometries such as a Y junction enclosing a magnetic flux.
The impossibility of measuring non-commuting quantum mechanical observables is one of the most fascinating consequences of the quantum mechanical postulates. Hence, to date the investigation of quantum measurement and projection is a fundamentally interesting topic. We propose to test the concept of weak measurement of non-commuting observables in mesoscopic transport experiments, using a quasiprobabilistic description. We derive an inequality for current correlators, which is satisfied by every classical probability but violated by high-frequency fourth-order cumulants in the quantum regime for experimentally feasible parameters. We further address the creation and detection of entanglement in solid-state electronics, which is of fundamental importance for quantum information processing. We propose a general test of entanglement based on the violation of a classically satisfied inequality for continuous variables by 4th or higher order quantum correlation functions. Our scheme provides a way to prove the existence of entanglement in a mesoscopic transport setup by measuring higher order cumulants without requiring the additional assumption of single charge detection.
The form of electron counting statistics of the tunneling current noise in a generic many-body interacting electron system is obtained and universal relations between its different moments are derived. A generalized fluctuation-dissipation theorem providing a relation between current and noise at arbitrary bias-to-temperature ratio eV∕kBTeV∕{k}_{B}TeV∕kB​T is established in the tunneling Hamiltonian approximation. The third correlator of current fluctuations S3{S}_{3}S3​ (the skewness of the charge counting distribution) has a universal Schottky-type relation with the current and quasiparticle charge that holds in a wide bias voltage range, both at large and small eV∕kBTeV∕{k}_{B}TeV∕kB​T. The insensitivity of S3{S}_{3}S3​ to the Nyquist-Schottky crossover represents an advantage compared to the Schottky formula for the noise power. We discuss the possibility of using the correlator S3{S}_{3}S3​ for detecting quasiparticle charge at high temperatures.