Quantum Breaking of Elastic String
Condensed Matter
2008-04-12 v4
Abstract
Breaking of an atomic chain under stress is a collective many-particle tunneling phenomenon. We study classical dynamics in imaginary time by using conformal mapping technique, and derive an analytic formula for the probability of breaking. The result covers a broad temperature interval and interpolates between two regimes: tunneling and thermal activation. Also, we consider the breaking induced by an ultrasonic wave propagating in the chain, and propose to observe it in an STM experiment.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/9406117,
title = {Quantum Breaking of Elastic String},
author = {L. S. Levitov and A. V. Shytov and A. Yu. Yakovets},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/9406117},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
8 pages, RevTeX 3.0, Landau Institute preprint 261/6438