Quantum detectors for the third cumulant of current fluctuations

Abstract

We consider the measurement of the third cumulant of current fluctuations arising from a point contact, employing the transitions that they cause in a quantum detector connected to the contact. We detail two generic detectors: a quantum two-level system and a harmonic oscillator. In these systems, for an arbitrary relation between the voltage driving the point contact and the energy scales of the detectors, the results can be expressed in terms of an effective detector temperature T_eff. The third cumulant can be found from the dependence of T_eff on the sign of the driving voltage. We find that proper ordering of the fluctuation operators is relevant in the analysis of the transition rates. This is reflected in the effective Fano factor for the third cumulant measured in such setups: it depends on the ratio of the voltage and an energy scale describing the circuit where the fluctuations are produced.