High-temperature fusion of a multi-electron leviton

Abstract

The state of electrons injected onto the surface of the Fermi sea depends on temperature. The state is pure at zero temperature and is mixed at finite temperature. In the case of a single-electron injection, such a transformation can be detected as a decrease in shot noise with increasing temperature. In the case of a multi-electron injection, the situation is more subtle. The mixedness helps the development of quantum-mechanical exchange correlations between injected electrons, even if such correlations are absent at zero temperature. These correlations enhance the shot noise, what in part counteracts the reduction of noise with temperature. Moreover, at sufficiently high temperatures, the correlation contribution to noise predominates over the contribution of individual particles. As a result, in the system of $N$ electrons, the apparent charge (which is revealed via the shot noise) is changed from $e$ at zero temperature to $Ne$ at high temperatures. It looks like the exchange correlations glue up electrons into one particle of total charge and energy. This point of view is supported by both charge noise and heat noise. Interestingly, in the macroscopic limit, $N\to \infty$, the correlation contribution completely suppresses the effect of temperature on noise.