Factorization of quantum charge transport for non-interacting fermions

Abstract

We show that the statistics of the charge transfer of non-interacting fermions through a two-lead contact is generalized binomial, at any temperature and for any form of the scattering matrix: an arbitrary charge-transfer process can be decomposed into independent single-particle events. This result generalizes previous studies of adiabatic pumping at zero temperature and of transport induced by bias voltage.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, typos corrected, references adde