Statistical model of dephasing in mesoscopic devices introduced in the scattering matrix formalism

We propose a phenomenological model of dephasing in mesoscopic transport, based on the introduction of random-phase fluctuations in the computation of the scattering matrix of the system. A Monte Carlo averaging procedure allows us to extract electrical and microscopic device properties. We show that, in this picture, scattering matrix properties enforced by current conservation and time-reversal invariance still hold. In order to assess the validity of the proposed approach, we present simulations of conductance and magnetoconductance of Aharonov-Bohm rings that reproduce the behavior observed in experiments, in particular as far as aspects related to decoherence are concerned.