Quantum versus classical counting in non-Markovian master equations

Abstract

We discuss the description of full counting statistics in quantum transport with a non-Markovian master equation. We focus on differences arising from whether charge is considered as a classical or a quantum degree of freedom. These differences manifest themselves in the inhomogeneous term of the master equation which describes initial correlations. We describe the influence on current and in particular, the finite-frequency shotnoise. We illustrate these ideas by studying transport through a quantum dot and give results that include both sequential and cotunneling processes. Importantly, the noise spectra derived from the classical description are essentially frequency independent and all quantum noise effects are absent. These effects are fully recovered when charge is considered as a quantum degree of freedom.