Correlated voltage probe model of relaxation in two Coulomb-coupled edge channels

A phenomenological correlated voltage probe model is introduced to mimic the effects of inelastic scattering between particles in different conduction channels of a phase coherent conductor. As an illustration, the non-equilibrium distribution functions of two noisy co-propagating chiral edge channels of the integer quantum Hall effect are calculated and compared with recent experiments. The method is further applied to calculate the linear response current noise through an interacting Mach–Zehnder interferometer.