Semiclassical formula for quantum tunneling in asymmetric double-well potentials

Year: 2012

Authors: Rastelli G.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Grenoble 1, CNRS, LPMMC, UMR 5493, F-38042 Grenoble, France

Abstract: Despite the fact that quantum tunneling has been studied since the advent of quantum mechanics, the literature appears to contain no simple (textbook) formula for tunneling in generic asymmetric double-well potentials. In the regime of strong localization, I derive a succinct analytical formula based on the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin semiclassical approach. Two different examples of asymmetric potentials are discussed: the cases when the two localized levels are degenerate and when they are not degenerate. For the first case, I also discuss a time-dependent problem showing the quantum Zeno effect. (c) 2012 American Physical Society.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW A – ATOMIC, MOLECULAR, AND OPTICAL PHYSICS

Volume: 86 (1)      Pages from: 012106  to:

More Information: The author thanks F. W. J. Hekking and R. Whitney for useful discussions and critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by ANR through the contracts DYCOSMA and QUANTJO. G. R. acknowledges support from the European networks MIDAS, SOLID, and GEOMDISS.
KeyWords: quantum tunneling
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.86.012106