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Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 206801 (2003) [4 pages]

Stochastic Path Integral Formulation of Full Counting Statistics

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S. Pilgram, A. N. Jordan, E. V. Sukhorukov, and M. Büttiker
Département de Physique Théorique, Université de Genève, CH-1211 Genève 4, Switzerland

Received 18 December 2002; published 20 May 2003

We derive a stochastic path integral representation of counting statistics in semiclassical systems. The formalism is introduced on the simple case of a single chaotic cavity with two quantum point contacts, and then further generalized to find the propagator for charge distributions with an arbitrary number of counting fields and generalized charges. The counting statistics is given by the saddle-point approximation to the path integral, and fluctuations around the saddle point are suppressed in the semiclassical approximation. We use this approach to derive the current cumulants of a chaotic cavity in the hot-electron regime.

© 2003 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.206801
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.206801
PACS:
73.23.–b, 02.50.–r, 05.40.–a, 72.70.+m