Full counting statistics and first-passage times in quantum Markovian processes: Ensemble relations, metastability, and fluctuation theorems

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Hauptverfasser: Menczel, Paul, Flindt, Christian, Brange, Fredrik, Nori, Franco, Gneiting, Clemens
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Menczel, Paul
Flindt, Christian
Brange, Fredrik
Nori, Franco
Gneiting, Clemens
author_facet Menczel, Paul
Flindt, Christian
Brange, Fredrik
Nori, Franco
Gneiting, Clemens
contents We develop a comprehensive framework for characterizing fluctuations in quantum transport and nonequilibrium thermodynamics using two complementary approaches: full counting statistics and first-passage times. Focusing on open quantum systems governed by Markovian Lindblad dynamics, we derive general ensemble relations that connect the two approaches at all times, and we clarify how the steady states reached at long times relate to those reached at large jump counts. In regimes of metastability, long-lived intermediate states cause violations of experimentally testable cumulant relations, as we discuss. We also formulate a fluctuation theorem governing the probability of rare fluctuations in the first-passage time distributions based on results from full counting statistics. Our results apply to general integer-valued trajectory observables that do not necessarily increase monotonically in time. Three illustrative applications, a two-state emitter, a driven qubit, and a variant of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, highlight the physical implications of our results and provide guidelines for practical calculations. Our framework provides a complete picture of first-passage time statistics in Markovian quantum systems, encompassing multiple earlier results, and it has direct implications for current experiments in quantum optics, superconducting circuits, and nanoscale heat engines.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_18614
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Full counting statistics and first-passage times in quantum Markovian processes: Ensemble relations, metastability, and fluctuation theorems
Menczel, Paul
Flindt, Christian
Brange, Fredrik
Nori, Franco
Gneiting, Clemens
Statistical Mechanics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
We develop a comprehensive framework for characterizing fluctuations in quantum transport and nonequilibrium thermodynamics using two complementary approaches: full counting statistics and first-passage times. Focusing on open quantum systems governed by Markovian Lindblad dynamics, we derive general ensemble relations that connect the two approaches at all times, and we clarify how the steady states reached at long times relate to those reached at large jump counts. In regimes of metastability, long-lived intermediate states cause violations of experimentally testable cumulant relations, as we discuss. We also formulate a fluctuation theorem governing the probability of rare fluctuations in the first-passage time distributions based on results from full counting statistics. Our results apply to general integer-valued trajectory observables that do not necessarily increase monotonically in time. Three illustrative applications, a two-state emitter, a driven qubit, and a variant of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, highlight the physical implications of our results and provide guidelines for practical calculations. Our framework provides a complete picture of first-passage time statistics in Markovian quantum systems, encompassing multiple earlier results, and it has direct implications for current experiments in quantum optics, superconducting circuits, and nanoscale heat engines.
title Full counting statistics and first-passage times in quantum Markovian processes: Ensemble relations, metastability, and fluctuation theorems
topic Statistical Mechanics
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.18614