Some recent theoretical studies have tended to employ analytically-continuous {\em gaussian}, or infinite-bandwidth step pulses to examine tunneling process. The stationary phase method is often employed to this aim. However, {\em gaussian} functions do not have a well-defined front, such that their speed of propagation becomes ambiguous. Also, infinite bandwidth signals cannot propagate through any real physical medium (whose transfer function is therefore finite) without pulse distortion, which also leads to ambiguities in determining propagation velocity during the tunneling process. In this manuscript, we appoint some incompatibilities with the application of the method of stationary phase in deriving tunneling times which, eventually, can ruin the {\em superluminal} interpretation of transition times.
Using a recently developed procedure - multiple wave packet decomposition - here we study the phase time formulation for tunneling/reflecting particles colliding with a potential barrier. To partially overcome the analytical difficulties which frequently arise when the stationary phase method is employed for deriving phase (tunneling) time expressions, we present a theoretical exercise involving a symmetrical collision between two identical wave packets and an one-dimensional rectangular potential barrier. Summing the amplitudes of the reflected and transmitted waves - using a method we call m…
The stationary phase method is often employed for computing tunneling {\em phase} times of analytically-continuous {\em gaussian} or infinite-bandwidth step pulses which collide with a potential barrier. The indiscriminate utilization of this method without considering the barrier boundary effects leads to some misconceptions in the interpretation of the phase times. After reexamining the above barrier diffusion problem where we notice the wave packet collision necessarily leads to the possibility of multiple reflected and transmitted wave packets, we study the phase times for tunneling/reflec…
We discuss the properties of 1D stationary pulses of light in atomic ensemble with electromagnetically induced transparency in the limit of tight spatial confinement. When the size of the wavepacket becomes comparable or smaller than the absorption length of the medium, it must be described by a two-component vector which obeys the one-dimensional two-component Dirac equation with an effective mass $m^*$ and effective speed of light $c^*$. Then a fundamental lower limit to the spatial width in an external potential arises from Klein tunneling and is given by the effective Compton length $λ_C =…
By developing the preceding work on the fast forward of transient phenomena of quantum tunneling by Khujakulov and Nakamura (Phys. Rev. {\bf A 93}, 022101 (2016) ), we propose a scheme of the exact fast forward of adiabatic control of stationary tunneling states with use of the electromagnetic field. The idea allows the acceleration of both the amplitude and phase of wave functions throughout the fast-forward time range. The scheme realizes the fast-forward observation of the transport coefficients under the adiabatically-changing barrier with the fixed energy of an incoming particle. As typic…
According to a corrected dispersion relation proposed in the study on string theory and quantum gravity theory, Rarita-Schwinger equation has been precisely modified, which results in a Rarita-Schwinger-Hamilton-Jacobi equation, and through which, the characteristics of arbitrary spin fermions quantum tunneling radiation from non-stationary Kerr-de Sitter black hole are researched. A series of accurately corrected physical quantities such as surface gravity, chemical potential, tunneling probability and Hawking temperature that describe the properties of the black hole are derived. This resear…
We revisit recent claims about the instability of non-rotating tunnel coupled annular Bose-Einstein condensates leading to the emergence of angular-momentum Josephson oscillation [Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 050401 (2007), arXiv:quant-ph/0609133v2]. It was predicted that all stationary states with uniform density become unstable in certain parameter regimes. By careful analysis, we arrive at a different conclusion. We show that there is a stable non-rotating and uniform ground state for any value of the tunnel coupling and repulsive interactions. The instability of an excited state with $π$ phase dif…
This report deals with the basic concepts on deducing transit times for quantum scattering: the stationary phase method and its relation with delay times for relativistic and non-relativistic tunneling particles. We notice that the applicability of this method is constrained by several subtleties in deriving the phase time that describes the localization of scattered wave packets. We investigate the general relation between phase times and dwell times for quantum tunneling/scattering. Considering a symmetrical collision of two identical wave packets with an one-dimensional barrier, we demonstr…
We consider the properties of stationary states and the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in a double-well (DW) potential with pair tunneling by using a full quantum-mechanical treatment. Furthermore, we study the quantum quench dynamics of the DW system subjected to a sudden change of the Peierls phase. It is shown that strong pair tunneling evidently influences the energy spectrum structure of the stationary states. For relatively weak repulsive interatomic interactions, the dynamics of the DW system with a maximal initial population difference evolves from Josephson oscillations …
We show that the probability distribution of the stationary state of a dissipative ac-driven two-level system exhibits discontinuities, i.e. jumps, for parameters at which coherent destruction of tunneling takes place. These discontinuities can be observed as jumps in the emission of the Mollow triplet. The jumps are the consequence of discontinuities in the transition rates, which we calculate numerically and analytically based on the secular Floquet-Redfield formalism.
We investigate a case of the Hu-Paz-Zhang master equation of the Caldeira-Leggett model without Lindblad form obtained in the weak-coupling limit up to the second-order perturbation. In our study, we use Gaussian initial states to be able to employ a sufficient and necessary condition, which can expose positivity violations of the density operator during the time evolution. We demonstrate that the evolution of the non-Markovian master equation has problems when the stationary solution is not a positive operator, i.e., does not have physical interpretation. We also show that solutions always re…
We introduce a method for calculating the stationary state of a translation invariant array of weakly coupled cavities in the presence of dissipation and coherent as well as incoherent drives. Instead of computing the full density matrix our method directly calculates the correlation functions which are relevant for obtaining all local quantities of interest. It considers an expansion of the correlation functions and their equations of motion in powers of the photon tunneling rate between adjacent cavities, leading to an exact second order solution for any number of cavities. Our method provid…
The evolution of mode entanglement is analysed for a system of two indistinguishable bosons with two accessible modes. Whereas entanglement remains stationary whenever the number of bosons in each mode is left invariant, it exhibits a rich dynamics under the effects of single- and two-particle tunneling. By analysing such effects in paradigmatic families of states, our results provide guidance for the design and control of specific dynamics of mode entanglement, by varying the tunneling transition rates and the preparation of the initial state.
The tunneling effect is the most popular phenomenon of quantum physics and is present in modern physical theories. Still, the most important features of this effect are already present in toy models - low dimensional quantum mechanics with high potential barriers. Even these simple systems cannot be solved analytically and approximations have to be made. Tunneling is closely related to splitting of the ground state energy which is degenerate in the classical limit. In this thesis we use two methods to estimate the energy splitting in one dimensional quantum mechanics. In semi-classical approxi…
We propose an analytical study of relativistic tunneling through opaque barriers. We obtain a closed formula for the phase time. This formula is in excellent agreement with the numerical simulations and corrects the standard formula obtained by the stationary phase method. An important result is found when the upper limit of the incoming energy distribution coincides with the upper limit of the tunneling zone. In this case, the phase time is proportional to the barrier width.
The general and explicit relation between the phase time and the dwell time for quantum tunneling or scattering is investigated. Considering a symmetrical collision of two identical wave packets with an one-dimensional barrier, here we demonstrate that these two distinct transit time definitions give connected results where, however, the phase time (group delay) accurately describes the exact position of the scattered particles. The analytical difficulties that arise when the stationary phase method is employed for obtaining phase (traversal) times are all overcome. Multiple wave packet decomp…
For the stationary one-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation (or Gross-Pitaevskii equation) nonlinear resonant transmission through a finite number of equidistant identical barriers is studied using a (semi-) analytical approach. In addition to the occurrence of bistable transmission peaks known from nonlinear resonant transmission through a single quantum well (respectively a double barrier) complicated (looped) structures are observed in the transmission coefficient which can be identified as the result of symmetry breaking similar to the emergence of self-trapping states in double well…
The buildup process of the probability density inside the quantum well of a double-barrier resonant structure is studied by considering the analytic solution of the time dependent Schrödinger equation with the initial condition of a cutoff plane wave. For one level systems at resonance condition we show that the buildup of the probability density obeys a simple charging up law, $| Ψ(τ) / ϕ| =1-e^{-τ/τ_0},$ where $ϕ$ is the stationary wave function and the transient time constant $τ_0$ is exactly two lifetimes. We illustrate that the above formula holds both for symmetrical and asymmetrical pot…
We study the tunneling zone solutions of a one-dimensional electrostatic potential for the relativistic (Dirac to Klein-Gordon) wave equation when the incoming wave packet exhibits the possibility of being almost totally transmitted through the barrier. The transmission probabilities, the phase times and the dwell times for the proposed relativistic dynamics are obtained and the conditions for the occurrence of accelerated tunneling transmission are all quantified. We show that, in some limiting cases, the analytical difficulties that arise when the stationary phase method is employed for obta…
After a brief review of the derivation of the standard phase time formula, based on the use of the stationary phase method, we propose, in the opaque limit, an alternative method to calculate the phase time. The new formula for the phase time is in excellent agreement with the numerical simulations and shows that for wave packets whose upper limit of the momentum distribution is very close to the barrier height, the transit time is proportional to the barrier width.
We solve the Dirac equation in three regions of graphene to get the solutions of the energy spectrum in connection to the strain, energy gap, and magnetic field. The Goos-Hänchen shifts and group delay time will be obtained by applying the stationary phase approximation after the wave functions at the interfaces have been matched. Our results suggest that the group delay time is influenced by the presence of strain along the armchair and zigzag directions. We show that the gate voltage and strain have the ability to change the group delay from subluminality to superluminality. This may have si…
Time it takes to travel from one position to another, devoid of any quantum mechanical description, has been modeled variously, especially for quantum tunneling. The model time, if universally valid, must be subluminal, must hold everywhere (inside and outside the tunneling region), must comprise interference effects, and must have a sensible classical limit. Here we show that the quantum travel time, hypothesized to emerge with the state vector, is a function of the probability density and probability current such that all the criteria above are fulfilled. We compute it inside and outside a r…
For suitable parameters, the classical Duffing oscillator has a known bistability in its stationary states, with low- and high-amplitude branches. As expected from the analogy with a particle in a double-well potential, transitions between these states become possible either at finite temperature, or in the quantum regime due to tunneling. In this analogy, besides local stability, one can also discuss global stability by comparing the two potential minima. For the Duffing oscillator, the stationary states emerge dynamically so that a priori, a potential-minimum criterion for them does not exis…
