Current fluctuations in composite conductors: Beyond the second cumulant

Employing the non-linear $\sigma$-model we analyze current fluctuations in coherent composite conductors which contain a diffusive element in-between two tunnel barriers. For such systems we explicitly evaluate the frequency-dependent third current cumulant which also determines the leading Coulomb interaction correction to shot noise. Our predictions can be directly tested in future experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Full counting statistics of a general quantum mechanical variable

We present here a quantum mechanical framework for defining the statistics of measurements of time integrals of A(t), A(t) being a quantum mechanical variable. This is a generalization of the so-called full counting statistics proposed earlier for DC electric currents. We develop an influence functional formalism that allows us to study the quantum system along with the measuring device thus fully accounting for the action of the detector on the system to be measured. We define the full counting statistics of an arbitrary variable by means of an evolution operator that relates initial and final density matrices of the measuring device. In this way we are able to resolve inconsistencies that occur in earlier definitions. We suggest two schemes whereby the so defined full statistics can be observed experimentally.Comment: 11 page

Full Counting Statistics of Cooper Pair Shuttling

The Cooper pair shuttle is a simple model system that combines features of coherent and incoherent transport. We evaluate the full counting statistics (FCS) of charge transfer via the shuttle in the incoherent regime. We describe two limiting cases when the FCS allows for classical interpretation. Generally, the classical interpretation fails yielding negative and imaginary "probabilities". This signals that superconducting coherence survives even in incoherent regime. We evaluate the current noise in some detail.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; v2 (published version) corrected misprint

Optical stabilization of voltage fluctuations in half-Josephson lasers

A recently proposed device, dubbed half-Josephson laser, provides a phase-lock between the optical phase and the superconducting phase difference between the leads of the device. In this paper we propose to utilize this phase-lock for stabilization of voltage fluctuations, by two optical feedback schemes. The first scheme involves a single half-Josephson laser and allows to significantly decrease the diffusion coefficient of the superconducting phase difference. The second scheme involves a stable optical source and a fluctuating half-Josephson laser and permits quenching of the diffusion of the relative phase of the lasers. This opens up perspectives of the optical control of the superconducting phase and voltage fluctuations.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Coulomb Blockade due to Quantum Phase-Slips Illustrated with Devices

In order to illustrate the emergence of Coulomb blockade from coherent quantum phase-slip processes in thin superconducting wires, we propose and theoretically investigate two elementary setups, or "devices". The setups are derived from Cooper-pair box and Cooper-pair transistor, so we refer to them as QPS-box and QPS-transistor, respectively. We demonstrate that the devices exhibit sensitivity to a charge induced by a gate electrode, this being the main signature of Coulomb blockade. Experimental realization of these devices will unambiguously prove the Coulomb blockade as an effect of coherence of phase-slip processes. We analyze the emergence of discrete charging in the limit strong phase-slips. We have found and investigated six distinct regimes that are realized depending on the relation between three characteristic energy scales: inductive and charging energy, and phase-slip amplitude. For completeness, we include a brief discussion of dual Josephson-junction devices

Full Current Statistics in the Regime of Weak Coulomb Interaction

We evaluate the full statistics of the current via a Coulomb island that is strongly coupled to the leads. This strong coupling weakens Coulomb interaction. We show that in this case the effects of the interaction can be incorporated into the renormalization of transmission eigenvalues of the scatterers that connect the island and the leads. We evaluate the Coulomb blockade gap in the current-voltage characteristics, the value of the gap being exponentially suppressed as compared to the classical charging energy of the island.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure