Related papers: Decay in an asymmetric SQUID
A classical system cannot escape out of a metastable state at zero temperature. However, a composite system made from both classical and quantum degrees of freedom may drag itself out of the metastable state by a sequential process. The…
The periodic bounce configurations responsible for quantum tunneling are obtained explicitly and are extended to the finite energy case for minisuperspace models of the Universe. As a common feature of the tunneling models at finite energy…
We investigate macroscopic quantum tunneling of a Bose condensate and how it is affected by the interatomic interaction. We study the dynamics of a condensate falling under gravity and scattering on a Gaussian potential barrier that models…
Amorphous solids show surprisingly universal behaviour at low temperatures. The prevailing wisdom is that this can be explained by the existence of two-state defects within the material. The so-called standard tunneling model has become the…
Quantum tunneling from a thin wire or a thin film through a static potential barrier in a zero magnetic field is studied. The wire or the film should satisfy a condition of transverse quantization of levels and be inhomogeneous. Depending…
The phase diagram of an incompressible fluid membrane subject to quantum and thermal fluctuations is calculated exactly in a large number of dimensions of configuration space. At zero temperature, a crumpling transition is found at a…
The time dependent density matrix of a system with potential barrier is studied using path integrals. The characterization of the initial state, which is assumed to be restricted to one side of the barrier, and the time evolution of the…
It is shown by analyzing the $1D$ Schr\"odinger equation that discontinuities in the coupling constant can occur in both the energies and the eigenfunctions. Surprisingly, those discontinuities, which are present in the energies {\it…
The adsorption and diffusion of hydrogen atoms on Cu(001) are studied using first-principles calculations. By taking into account the contribution of zero-point energy (ZPE), the originally identical barriers are shown to be different for H…
We explore the tunneling behavior of a quantum particle on a finite graph, in the presence of an asymptotically large potential. Surprisingly the behavior is governed by the local symmetry of the graph around the wells.
The quantum nucleation of phase slips in neutral superfluids confined in a thin torus is investigated by means of the collective coordinate method. We have devised, with numerical justification, a certain collective coordinate to describe…
We measure quantum and thermal phase-slip rates using the standard deviation of the switching current in superconducting nanowires at high bias current. Our rigorous quantitative analysis provides firm evidence for the presence of quantum…
We report on a multi-year, multi-institution study to investigate student reasoning about energy in the context of quantum tunnelling. We use ungraded surveys, graded examination questions, individual clinical interviews, and…
Tunneling is an iconic concept that captures the peculiarity of quantum dynamics but, despite its ubiquity, questions remain. We focus on strong-field tunneling, which is vital to all attosecond science. We find an unexpected optical…
We investigate theorerically the non-equilibrium transport through a molecular quantum dot as a function of gate and bias voltage, taking into account the typical situation in molecular electronics. In this respect, our study includes…
Chaotic tunneling in a driven double-well system is investigated in absence as well as in the presence of dissipation. As the constitutive mechanism of chaos-assisted tunneling, we focus on the dynamics in the vicinity of three-level…
The field-theoretical description of quantum fluctuations on the background of a tunneling field $\sigma$ is revisited in the case of a functional Schrodinger approach. We apply this method in the case when quantum fluctuations are coupled…
Recent studies of neutral gas-phase reactions characterized by barriers show that certain complex forming processes involving light atoms are enhanced by quantum mechanical tunneling at low temperature. Here, we performed kinetic…
The Aubry transition between sliding and pinned phases, driven by the competition between two incommensurate length scales, represents a paradigm that is applicable to a large variety of microscopically distinct systems. Despite previous…
We consider a minisuperspace model for a closed universe with small and positive cosmological constant, filled with a massive scalar field conformally coupled to gravity. In the quantum version of this model, the universe may undergo a…