Noise-Assisted Currents in a Cylinder-Like Set of Mesoscopic Rings

We study magnetic fluxes and currents in a set of mesoscopic rings which form a cylinder. We investigate the noiseless system as well as the influence of equilibrium and non-equilibrium fluctuations on the properties of selfsustaining currents. Thermal equilibrium Nyquist noise does not destroy selfsustaining currents up to temperatures of the same order as the critical temperature for selfsustaining currents. For temperatures below the critical temperature, randomness in the distribution of parity of the coherent electrons can lead to disappearing of selfsustaining currents and inducing new metastable states. For temperatures above the critical temperature, it causes a creation of new metastable states with non-zero currents. (author)