Tunneling as a classical escape rate induced by the vacuum zero-point radiation
Abstract
We make a brief review of the Kramers escape rate theory for the probabilistic motion of a particle in a potential well U(x), and under the influence of classical fluctuation forces. The Kramers theory is extended in order to take into account the action of the thermal and zero-point random electromagnetic fields on a charged particle. The result is physically relevant because we get a non null escape rate over the potential barrier at low temperatures (T -> 0). It is found that, even if the mean energy is much smaller than the barrier height, the classical particle can escape from the potential well due to the action of the zero-point fluctuating fields. These stochastic effects can be used to give a classical interpretation to some quantum tunneling phenomena. Relevant experimental data are used to illustrate the theoretical results.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0409119,
title = {Tunneling as a classical escape rate induced by the vacuum zero-point radiation},
author = {A. J. Faria and H. M. Franca and R. C. Sponchiado},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0409119},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
11 pages, 3 figures. To be published in "Quanta, Relativity and Electromagnetism: The Search for Unity in Physics", Proceedings of a Symposium in Honor of Jean-Pierre Vigier (Paris, September, 2003). Kluwer Academic Publishers