Coulomb-blockade conductance-peak-height fluctuations in quantum dots and the independent-particle model

We study the combined effect of finite temperature, underlying classical dynamics, and deformations on the statistical properties of Coulomb-blockade conductance peaks in quantum dots. These effects are considered in the context of the single-particle plus constant-interaction theory of the Coulomb blockade. We present numerical studies of two chaotic models, representative of different mean-field potentials: a parametric random Hamiltonian and a smooth stadium. In addition, we study conductance fluctuations for different integrable confining potentials. For temperatures smaller than the mean level spacing, our results indicate that the peak-height distribution is nearly always in good agreement with the available experimental data, irrespective of the confining potential (integrable or chaotic). We find that the peak bunching effect seen in the experiments is reproduced in the theoretical models under certain special conditions. Although the independent-particle model fails, in general, to explain quantitatively the short-range part of the peak height correlations observed experimentally, we argue that it allows for an understanding of the long-range part.