Abstract

NANNI, Luca. Time-dependent interactions in tunnelling dynamics. Rev. mex. fis. [online]. 2022, vol.68, n.2, e020702.  Epub Mar 27, 2023. ISSN 0035-001X.  https://doi.org/10.31349/revmexfis.68.020702.

In this paper, the tunnelling of a particle through a potential barrier is investigated in the presence of a time-dependent perturbation. The latter is attributed to the process of the energy measurement of the scattered particle. The time-dependent Schrödinger equation of the model is exactly solved. The calculation of the probability density inside the barrier proves that the tunnelling dynamics is determined not only by the transmitted and reflected waves but also by their interference. Furthermore, the interference term is time-dependent and contribute to the scattering process duration. The tunnelling time is calculated as the time to stop the flow of probability density inside the barrier. This is the minimum duration of the measurement process before detecting the particle beyond the barrier. Based on this, a new method of estimating the tunnelling time by energy experimental measuring is proposed.

Keywords : Quantum tunnelling; tunnelling time; quantum measurement; time-dependent Schrödinger equation.