We present an analytic example of two dimensional quantum mechanical system, where the exponential suppression of the probability of over-barrier reflection changes non-monotonically with energy. The suppression is minimal at certain "optimal" energies where reflection occurs with exponentially larger probability than at other energies.
Quantum mechanics predicts an exponentially small probability that a particle with energy greater than the height of a potential barrier will nevertheless reflect from the barrier in violation of classical expectations. This process can be regarded as tunneling in momentum space, leading to a simple derivation of the reflection probability.
By applying continuity and boundary conditions, the reflection and transmission coefficients of one-dimensional time-independent Schrödinger equation with a symmetric barrier-type shifted Deng-Fan potential are obtained and discussed. The numerical and graphical results are very accurate and consistent with the quantum transmission-reflection principle.
The reflection time, during which a particle is in the classically forbidden region, is described by the trajectory representation for reflection by a semi-infinite rectangular barrier. The Schrödinger wave function has microstates for such reflection. The reflection time is a function of the microstate. For oblique reflection, the Goos-Hänchen displacement is also a function of the microstate. For a square well duct, we develop a proposed test where consistent overdetermination of the trajectory by a redundant set of observed constants of the motion would be beyond the Copenhagen interpretati…
We study the quantum reflection of a two-dimensional disk-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate with a dark-soliton excitation by a square potential barrier. For the giving geometry, the dark-soliton initially located at the centre of the condensate cloud survive long enough for investigating the reflection process. We show the time evolution of the reflection probability with respect to various width of the barrier. The asymptotic value of the reflection probability is decreased by the existence of a dark-soliton, and is highly sensitive to the initial orientation of the dark-soliton which also aff…
A method of a non-stationary description of tunneling of a particle through the one-dimensional and spherically symmetric rectangular barriers on the basis of analisis of multiple internal reflections of wave packets in relation on the barrier boundaries, named as the Method of multiple internal reflections, is presented at the first time. For the one-dimensional problem the applicability of this method is proved, its specific features are analyzed. For the spherically symmetric problem the amplitudes of the transmitted and reflected wave packets, times of tunneling and reflection in relation …
Probability of reflection $R(E)$ off a finite attractive scattering potential at zero or low energies is ordinarily supposed to be 1. However, a fully attractive potential presents a paradoxical result that $R(0)=0$ or $R(0)<1$, when an effective parameter $q$ of the potential admits special discrete values. Here, we report another class of finite potentials which are well-barrier (attractive-repulsive) type and which can be made to possess much less reflection at zero and low energies for a band of low values of $q$. These well-barrier potentials have only two real turning points for $E \in(V…
The Dirac equation is used to describe oblique spin-conserving and spin-flip reflections of relativistic electrons from a one-dimensional potential barrier in a vacuum. When an electron hits the barrier from an oblique direction, its spin-up and spin-down states have different energies due to the spin-orbit interaction and the fact that the system has a structural inversion asymmetry. When the electron is reflected in an elastic spin-conserving process, incoming and outgoing angles are the same. If an elastic reflection is a spin-flip process, the outgoing angle is different from the incoming …
We present a new potential barrier that presents the phenomenon of superradiance when the reflection coefficient $R$ is greater than one. We calculated the transmission and reflection coefficients for three different regions. The results are compared with those obtained for the hyperbolic tangent potential barrier and the step potential barrier. We also present the solution of the Klein-Gordon equation with the Lambert-W potential barrier in terms of the Heun Confluent functions.
A semiclassical method for the calculation of tunneling exponent in systems with many degrees of freedom is developed. We find that corresponding classical solution as function of energy form several branches joint by bifurcation points. A regularization technique is proposed, which enables one to choose physically relevant branches of solutions everywhere in the classically forbidden region and also in the allowed region. At relatively high energy the physical branch describes tunneling via creation of a classical state, close to the top of the barrier. The method is checked against exact sol…
This article deals with non-adiabatic processes (i.e. processes excluded by the adiabatic theorem) from the geometrical (group-theoretical) point of view. An approximated formula for the probabilities of the non-adiabatic transitions is derived in the adiabatic regime for the case when the parameter-dependent Hamiltonian represents a smooth curve in the Lie algebra and the quantal dynamics is determined by the corresponding Lie group evolution operator. We treat the spin precession in a time-dependent magnetic field and the over-barrier reflection problem in a uniform way using the first-order…
We develop a new theoretical approach for modelling a wide range of semiconductor-superconductor structures with arbitrary potential barriers and a spatially-dependent superconducting order parameter. We demonstrate asymmetry in the conductance spectrum as a result of a Schottky barrier shape. We further show that Andreev reflection process can be significantly enhanced through resonant tunneling with appropriate barrier configuration, which can incorporate the Schottky barrier as a contributing component of the device. Moreover, we show that resonant tunneling can be achieved in superlattice …
We compute the time evolving probability of a Gaussian wave packet to be reflected from a rectangular potential barrier which is perturbed by reducing its height. A time interval is found during which this probability of reflection is enhanced (superarrivals) compared to the unperturbed case. Such a time evolving reflection probability implies that the effect of perturbation propagates across the wave packet faster than its group velocity - a curious form of nonlocality.
As was shown in quant-ph/0405028, the state of a tunneling particle can be uniquely presented as a coherent superposition of two states to describe alternative sub-processes, transmission and reflection. In this paper, on the basis of the stationary wave functions for these sub-processes, we give new definitions of the dwell times for transmission and reflection. In the case of rectangular potential barriers the dwell times are obtained explicitly. In contrast with the well-known Büttiker's dwell-time, our dwell time for transmission increases exponentially, for the under-barrier tunneling, wi…
We study the evolution of a wave packet impinging onto a one dimensional potential barrier. The transmission and reflection times discussed in the literature for stationary states do not correspond to the times required for the emergence of a transmitted or a reflected packet. We propose new definitions for the interaction (dwell) time and the transmission and reflection times which are suitable for packets and fit better the actual time evolution of the packet.
It is shown that the transmission and reflection group delay times in an asymmetric single quantum barrier are greatly enhanced by the transmission resonance when the energy of incident particles is larger than the height of the barrier. The resonant transmission group delay is of the order of the quasibound state lifetime in the barrier region. The reflection group delay can be either positive or negative, depending on the relative height of the potential energies on the two sides of the barrier. Its magnitude is much larger than the quasibound state lifetime. These predictions have been obse…
The reflection and transmission Salecker-Wigner-Peres clock times averaged over the post-selected reflected and transmitted sub-ensembles, respectively, are investigated for the one dimensional scattering of a localized wave packet through an asymmetric barrier. The dwell time averaged over the same post-selected sub-ensembles is also considered. The emergence of negative average reflection times is examined and we show that while the average over the reflected sub-ensemble eliminates the negative peaks at resonance for the clock time, it still allows negative values for transparent barriers. …
Evanescent matter-waves produced by an atom wave packet incident onto a repulsive barrier edge can be back-refracted and reconstructed by the application of negative-index "comoving" potential pulses. One shows that those collapses and revivals of evanescent matter waves give rise to surface matter waves and should be observable via atom reflection echoes issued from the barrier interface. This property, together with the property of inducing negative refraction, makes such potentials the matter-wave counterpart of negative-index materials in light optics.
We present the study of the one-dimensional Klein-Gordon equation by a smooth barrier. The scattering solutions are given in terms of the Whittaker $M_{κ,μ}(x)$ function. The reflection and transmission coefficients are calculated in terms of the energy, the height and the smoothness of the potential barrier. For any value of the smoothness parameter we observed transmission resonances.
We introduce a formalism for the calculation of the time of arrival t at a detector of particles traveling through interacting environments. We develop a general formulation that employs quantum canonical transformations from the free to the interacting cases to compute t. We interpret our results in terms of a Positive Operator Valued Measure. We then compute the probability distribution in times of arrival at a detector of those particles that, after their initial preparation, have undergone quantum tunneling or reflection due to the presence of potential barriers. We obtain the expected ret…
Protein clamps provide the cell with effective mechanisms for sensing of environmental changes and triggering adaptations that maintain homeostasis. The general physical mechanism behind protein clamping action, however, is poorly understood. Here, we explore the Davydov model for quantum transport of amide I energy, which is self-trapped in soliton states that propagate along the protein α-helix spines and preserve their shape upon reflection from the α-helix ends. We study computationally whether the Davydov solitons are able to reflect from massive barriers that model the presence of extern…
The stationary phase method is applied to diffusion by a potential barrier for an incoming wave packet with energies greater then the barrier height. It is observed that a direct application leads to paradoxical results. The correct solution, confirmed by numerical calculations is the creation of multiple peaks as a consequence of multiple reflections. Lessons concerning the use of the stationary phase method are drawn.
The Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics is applied to a transmission and reflection process in a double potential well. We consider a time dependent periodic wave function and study the particle trajectories. The average time, eventally transmitted particles stay inside the barrier is the average transmission time, which can be defined using the causal interpretation. The question remains whether these transmission times can be experimentally measured.
Transversal non-Clifford gates on qLDPC codes breaking the $\sqrt{N}$ distance barrier and quantum-inspired geometry with $\mathbb{Z}_2$ systolic freedom
In this work, a scattering process of quantum particles through a potential barrier is considered. The statistical complexity and the Fisher-Shannon information are calculated for this problem. The behaviour of these entropy-information measures as a function of the energy of the incident particles is compared with the behaviour of a physical magnitude, the reflection coefficient in the barrier. We find that these statistical magnitudes present their minimum values in the same situations in which the reflection coefficient is null. These are the situations where the total transmission through …
Exact reflection and transmission coefficients for supersymmetric shape-invariant potentials barriers are calculated by an analytical continuation of the asymptotic wave functions obtained via the introduction of new generalized ladder operators. The general form of the wave function is obtained by the use of the F-matrix formalism of Froman and Froman which is related to the evolution of asymptotic wave function coefficients.
A spatial-time method of description of alpha-decay of a nucleus is presented. The method is based on the quantum mechanical model of the alpha-decay of a compound nuclear system with the barrier. alpha-decay dynamics is described on the basis of multiple internal reflections of wave packets from boundaries of the decay barrier. The method allows to study this process in details at any time moment or point of space. According to the method, some time before the time moment of the nuclear decay the nucleus makes oscilations. In the calculations of the time duration of the alpha-decay of the com…
We present a class of 2D systems which shows a counterintuitive property that contradicts a semi classical intuition: A 2D quantum particle "prefers" tunneling through a barrier rather than traveling above it. Viewing the one particle 2D system as the system of two 1D particles, it is demonstrated that this effect occurs due to a specific symmetry of the barrier that forces excitations of the interparticle degree of freedom that, in turn, leads to the appearance of an effective potential barrier even though there is no "real" barrier. This phenomenon cannot exist in 1D.
We investigate the orgin of ``quantum superarrivals'' in the reflection and transmission probabilities of a Gaussian wave packet for a rectangular potential barrier while it is perturbed by either reducing or increasing its height. There exists a finite time interval during which the probability of reflection is {\it larger} (superarrivals) while the barrier is {\it lowered} compared to the unperturbed case. Similarly, during a certain interval of time, the probability of transmission while the barrier is {\it raised} {\it exceeds} that for free propagation. We compute {\it particle trajectori…
A semiclassical method of complex trajectories for the calculation of the tunneling exponent in systems with many degrees of freedom is further developed. It is supplemented with an easily implementable technique, which enables one to single out the physically relevant trajectory from the whole set of complex classical trajectories. The method is applied to semiclassical transitions of a bound system through a potential barrier. We find that the properties of physically relevant complex trajectories are qualitatively different in the cases of potential tunneling at low energy and dynamical tun…
We study the transmission probability of Dirac fermions in graphene scattered by a triangular double barrier potential in the presence of an external magnetic field. Our system made of two triangular potential barrier regions separated by a well region characterized by an energy gap $G_p$. Solving our Dirac-like equation and matching the solutions at the boundaries we express our transmission and reflection coefficients in terms of transfer matrix. We show in particular that the transmission exhibits oscillation resonances that are manifestation of the Klein tunneling effect.
On the base of a 1D Shrödinger equation the non-linear first-order differential equation (Ricatti type) for a quantum wave impedance function was derived. The advantages of this approach were discussed and demonstrated for a case of a single rectangular barrier. Both the scattering and the bound states problem were reformulated in terms of a quantum wave impedance and its application for solving both these problems was considered. The expressions for a reflection and a transmission coefficient were found on the base of a quantum wave impedance approach.
The GBAR experiment will time the free fall of cold antihydrogen atoms dropped onto an annihilation plate to test the universality of free fall on antimatter. In this contribution, we study the quantum reflection of the anti-atom resulting from the Casimir-Polder attraction to the plate. We evaluate the Casimir-Polder potential and the associated quantum reflection amplitudes and find that reflection is enhanced for weaker potentials. A Liouville transformation of the Schrödinger equation is used to map the quantum reflection problem onto an equivalent problem of scattering on a barrier, leadi…
The dynamics of a quantum system undergoing frequent "measurements", leading to the so-called quantum Zeno effect, is examined on the basis of a neutron-spin experiment recently proposed for its demonstration. When the spatial degrees of freedom are duely taken into account, neutron-reflection effects become very important and may lead to an evolution which is totally different from the ideal case.
In the paper the closed Friedmann-Robertson-Walker model with quantization in the presence of the positive cosmological constant and radiation is studied. For analysis of tunneling probability for birth of an asymptotically deSitter, inflationary Universe as a function of the radiation energy a new definition of a "free" wave propagating inside strong fields is proposed. On such a basis, tunneling boundary condition is corrected, penetrability and reflection concerning to the barrier are calculated in fully quantum stationary approach. For the first time non-zero interference between the incid…
Spectral singularities are spectral points that spoil the completeness of the eigenfunctions of certain non-Hermitian Hamiltonian operators. We identify spectral singularities of complex scattering potentials with the real energies at which the reflection and transmission coefficients tend to infinity, i.e., they correspond to resonances having a zero width. We show that a wave guide modeled using such a potential operates like a resonator at the frequencies of spectral singularities. As a concrete example, we explore the spectral singularities of an imaginary PT-symmetric barrier potential an…
Recalling the similarities between the Maxwell equations for a transverse electric wave in a stratified medium and the quantum mechanical Schroedinger equation in a piece-wise potential, we investigate the analog of the so called particle limit in quantum mechanics. It is shown that in this limit the resonance phenomena are lost since individual reflection and transmission terms no longer overlap. The result is a stationary zebra-like response with the intensity in each stripe calculable.
In quantum mechanics an incoming particle wave packet with sufficient energy will undergo both transmission and reflection when encountering a barrier of lower energy, but in classical mechanics there is no reflection, only transmission. In this paper we seek to explain the disappearance of quantum-mechanical reflection in the quasi-classical limit, using standard methods of decoherence through environmental interaction. We consider two models. In the first, the incoming particle is classicalized by coupling it to an environment described by a standard Lindblad master equation diagonalizing in…
A curious effect is uncovered by calculating the it time evolving probability of reflection of a Gaussian wave packet from a rectangular potential barrier while it is perturbed by reducing its height. A time interval is found during which this probability of reflection is larger (``superarrivals'') than in the unperturbed case. This nonclassical effect can be explained by requiring a wave function to act as a ``field'' through which an action, induced by the perturbation of the boundary condition, propagates at a speed depending upon the rate of reducing the barrier height.
Macromolecular protein complexes catalyze essential physiological processes that sustain life. Various interactions between protein subunits could increase the effective mass of certain peptide groups, thereby compartmentalizing protein $α$-helices. Here, we study the differential effects of applied massive barriers upon the soliton-assisted energy transport within proteins. We demonstrate that excentric barriers, localized onto a single spine in the protein $α$-helix, reflect or trap three-spine solitons as effectively as concentric barriers with comparable total mass. Furthermore, wider prot…
We numerically integrate the time-dependent Schrodinger equation in a single-degree-of-freedom model of SQUID with a variable potential barrier between the basis flux states. We find that linear superpositions of the basis states, with relatively little residual excitation, can be formed by pulsed modulations of the barrier, provided the pulse duration exceeds the period of small oscillations of the flux. Two pulses applied in sequence exhibit strong interference effects, which we propose to use for an experimental determination of the decoherence time in SQUIDs.