High Cumulants of Current Fluctuations Out of Equilibrium

Abstract

We consider high order current cumulants in disordered systems out of equilibrium. They are interesting and reveal information which is not easily exposed by the traditional shot noise. Despite the fact that the dynamics of the electrons is classical, the standard kinetic theory of fluctuations needs to be modified to account for those cumulants. We perform a quantum-mechanical calculation using the Keldysh technique and analyze its relation to the quasi classical Boltzmann-Langevin scheme. We also consider the effect of inelastic scattering. Strong electron-phonon scattering renders the current fluctuations Gaussian, completely suppressing the $n>2$ cumulants. Under strong electron-electron scattering the current fluctuations remain non-Gaussian.