English

Time Evolution of a Decaying Quantum State: Evaluation and Onset of Non-Exponential Decay

Quantum Physics 2023-03-01 v2

Abstract

The method developed by Van Dijk, Nogami and Toyama for obtaining the time-evolved wave function of a decaying quantum system is generalized to potentials and initial wave functions of non-compact support. The long time asymptotic behavior is extracted and employed to predict the timescale for the onset of non-exponential decay. The method is illustrated with a Gaussian initial wave function leaking through Eckart's potential barrier on the halfline.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2205.14670,
  title  = {Time Evolution of a Decaying Quantum State: Evaluation and Onset of Non-Exponential Decay},
  author = {Markus Nöth},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2205.14670},
  year   = {2023}
}