Microscopic derivation of rate equations for quantum transport

Abstract

It is shown that under certain conditions the resonant transport in mesoscopic systems can be described by modified (quantum) rate equations, which resemble the optical Bloch equations with some additional terms. Detailed microscopic derivation from the many-body Schrödinger equation is presented. Special attention is paid to the Coulomb blockade and quantum coherence effects in coupled quantum dot systems. The distinction between classical and quantum descriptions of resonant transport is clearly manifested in the modified rate equations.