Microscopic derivation of rate equations for quantum transport

TL;DR

This paper derives quantum rate equations from first principles to describe resonant transport in mesoscopic systems, highlighting quantum coherence and Coulomb blockade effects.

Contribution

It provides a detailed microscopic derivation of modified quantum rate equations, clarifying the quantum-classical transition in mesoscopic transport.

Findings

Modified rate equations resemble optical Bloch equations with additional terms

Explicit inclusion of Coulomb blockade effects

Quantum coherence significantly influences transport dynamics

Abstract

It is shown that under certain conditions the resonant transport in mesoscopic systems can be described by modified (quantum) rate equations, which resemble the optical Bloch equations with some additional terms. Detailed microscopic derivation from the many-body Schr\"odinger equation is presented. Special attention is paid to the Coulomb blockade and quantum coherence effects in coupled quantum dot systems. The distinction between classical and quantum descriptions of resonant transport is clearly manifested in the modified rate equations.