Stochastic Theory of Environmental Effects in Nonlinear Electrical Circuits

We present a stochastic approach to calculate the full statistics of classical voltage fluctuations across an arbitrary, nonlinear, dissipative device embedded in a circuit in the presence of a bias. We show how the feedback resulting from the circuit, made of an ohmic resistor and a capacitor, affects the cumulants of the voltage, and in particular resolves Brillouin's paradox to satisfy thermodynamics. We apply our results to the case of a tunnel junction and a diode.