Waiting times and noise in single particle transport

Abstract

The waiting time distribution $w(\tau)$, i.e. the probability for a delay $\tau$ between two subsequent transition (`jumps') of particles, is a statistical tool in (quantum) transport. Using generalized Master equations for systems coupled to external particle reservoirs, one can establish relations between $w(\tau)$ and other statistical transport quantities such as the noise spectrum and the Full Counting Statistics. It turns out that $w(\tau)$ usually contains additional information on system parameters and properties such as quantum coherence, the number of internal states, or the entropy of the current channels that participate in transport.