Full counting statistics in quantum contacts

Abstract

Full counting statistics is a fundamentally new concept in quantum transport. After a review of basic statistics theory, we introduce the powerful Green’s function approach to full counting statistics. To illustrate the concept we consider a number of examples. For generic two-terminal contacts we show how counting statistics elucidates the common (and different) features of transport between normal and superconducting contacts. Finally, we demonstrate how correlations in multi-terminal structures are naturally included in the formalism.