Heat Pulses in Electron Quantum Optics

Abstract: Electron quantum optics aims to realize ideas from the quantum theory of light with the role of photons being played by charge pulses in electronic conductors. Experimentally, the charge pulses are excited by time-dependent voltages, however, one could also generate heat pulses by heating and cooling an electrode. Here, we explore this intriguing idea by formulating a Floquet scattering theory of heat pulses in mesoscopic conductors. The adiabatic emission of heat pulses leads to a heat current that in linear response is given by the thermal conductance quantum. However, we also find a high-frequency component, which ensures that the fluctuation-dissipation theorem for heat currents, whose validity has been debated, is fulfilled. The heat pulses are uncharged, and we probe their electron-hole content by evaluating the partition noise in the outputs of a quantum point contact. We also employ a Hong--Ou--Mandel setup to examine if the pulses bunch or antibunch. Finally, to generate an electric current, we use a Mach--Zehnder interferometer that breaks the electron-hole symmetry and thereby enables a thermoelectric effect. Our work paves the way for systematic investigations of heat pulses in mesoscopic conductors, and it may stimulate future experiments.