Noise and fluctuations in nanoscale gas flow

TL;DR

This paper provides a theoretical analysis of fundamental noise in nanoscale gas flows, considering both classical and quantum regimes, and derives statistical properties of mass flow fluctuations.

Contribution

It introduces a unified theoretical framework for quantum and classical noise in nanoscale gas flows, including higher-order flow statistics.

Findings

Quantum noise in gas flow is analogous to electrical noise.

Thermal noise dominates when 2k_BT >> mΔP, otherwise shot noise prevails.

Derived the third cumulant of mass flow distribution.

Abstract

We theoretically calculate the fundamental noise that is present in gaseous (dilute fluid) flow in channels in the classical and degenerate quantum regime, where the Fermi-Dirac and Bose- Einstein distribution must be considered. Results for both regimes are analogous to their electrical counterparts. The quantum noise is calculated for a two terminal system and is a complicated function of the thermal and shot noise with the thermal noise dominating when $2k_BT >> m\Delta P$ and vice versa. The cumulant generating function for mass flow, which generates all the higher order statistics related to our mass flow distribution, is also derived and is used to find an expression for the third cumulant of flow across a fluidic channel.