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International Journal of Quantum Chemistry

Tunneling dynamics of a double‐well oscillator: Effects of barrier fluctuation and thermal modulation

Aparna Saha, Pranab Sarkar

Published Jan 1, 2003• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract The tunneling dynamics of a particle moving in a bistable potential with fluctuating barrier is studied. For barriers fluctuating randomly in time we show by exact numerical calculation the significant effect of barrier fluctuation on the tunneling behavior of the particle. At nonzero temperatures the computed tunneling rate constant passes through a maximum when plotted against fluctuation frequency. The resonant frequency (at which the maximum appears) slowly decreases with increase in temperature and attains a constant value at higher temperature and it increases linearly with increase in barrier height of the potential. Another important observation is that in presence of barrier fluctuation the dependence of tunneling rate constant on temperature is strongly guided by the barrier fluctuation frequency. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 93: 280–285, 2003

DOI
10.1002/qua.10563

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Abstract The tunneling dynamics of a particle moving in a bistable potential with fluctuating barrier is studied. For barriers fluctuating randomly in time we show by exact numerical calculation the significant effect of barrier fluctuation on the tunneling behavior of the particle. At nonzero temperatures the computed tunneling rate constant passes through a maximum when plotted against fluctuation frequency. The resonant frequency (at which the maximum appears) slowly decreases with increase in temperature and attains a constant value at higher temperature and it increases linearly with increase in barrier height of the potential. Another important observation is that in presence of barrier fluctuation the dependence of tunneling rate constant on temperature is strongly guided by the barrier fluctuation frequency. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 93: 280–285, 2003
Abstract The effects of thermal modulation on the tunneling dynamics of a particle moving in a bistable potential with a fluctuating barrier in the presence of bichromatic electromagnetic field are examined. This study brings to light various interesting features. While rate constant increases steadily with increasing fluctuation strength, a stochastic resonance‐like behavior is exhibited when tunneling rate is plotted as a function of barrier fluctuation frequency. The tunneling rate constant decreases with the increase in the differences of the strength of the two electric fields; on the other hand, it displays a maxima when plotted as a function of the ratio of the frequencies of the two fields. When the rate constant is plotted as a function of temperature, it increases and eventually settles down to a saturation value. We have also studied the effect of the phase difference between the two electric fields on the tunneling behavior in the presence of thermal modulation. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005
Abstract The zero and finite temperature tunneling dynamics of a periodically driven particle moving in a bistable potential with a fluctuating barrier is studied. We have focused on the influence of barrier fluctuation and thermal modulation on the tunneling processes in the presence of a driving field. At zero temperature, for a fixed strength of the driving field, both the tunneling probability and rate passes through a well‐defined minimum when plotted as a function of fluctuation frequency while it reveals a clear maximum as a function of driving frequency. However, at T > 0 the tunneling probability and rate show two maxima as a function of both fluctuation frequency and driving frequency. In both zero and finite temperature, the tunneling rate constant decreases with increasing fluctuation strength. So, the barrier fluctuation may enhance the stability of a periodically driven system. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2004
Abstract Stochastic fluctuation of barrier height and width of a symmetric double well plays a very significant role in the corresponding dynamics by increasing the semiclassical transmission probability and Shannon entropy of the system. The population of the system has been observed to be spread into several under barrier states starting from the or [ , where and are the wave functions describing the two lowest degenerate states] in presence of the stochastic fluctuation. This distribution over several states is manifested by steady increase in Shannon entropy. However, any arbitrary value of the stochastic fluctuation cannot increase the populations of the upper energy states and consequently no gain in the net value of Shannon entropy results. There is an optimum frequency for which the Shannon entropy passes through a maximum, which is also found out in this work. We have also calculated the semiclassical WKB like transmission probability as a function of time and it is clear that the random fluctuation of barrier causes the transmission probability to increase to a significant amount. As the total energy of the system remains below the potential barrier, this transmission probability is equivalent to tunneling probability. It has been clearly shown that if the fluctuation is made to be periodic (without changing the frequency and magnitude of the fluctuation) it cannot effect any significant change in the overall dynamics.
Abstract The tunneling of a hydrogen atom through the barrier of a three‐dimensional double‐well potential is considered. From the time‐dependent Schrödinger equation, expressions are derived for the ensemble‐averaged probability density and for the probability that the hydrogen atom is in the reactant region, in the barrier region, or in the product region. It is found that when thermal vibrations are not taken into account, the ensemble‐averaged probability density may oscillate with time about its equilibrium value. When thermal vibrations are included, the oscillations become damped and the probability density approaches equilibrium. The tunneling rate is found to decrease considerably for increasing barrier thickness and barrier height.
We present a numerical investigation of quantum mechanical tunneling process in a time-dependent (fluctuating) barrier using a one dimensional model of Eckart barrier. The tunneling probability is calculated for two cases in which (1) the height of the barrier is undergoing harmonic oscillation with frequency ω and (2) the location of the barrier is undergoing harmonic oscillation with frequency ω. It is observed in both cases that the quantum mechanical tunneling probability exhibits a maximum as a function of the oscillating frequency ω between the low and high frequency limits. The physical origin and process underlying this resonantlike phenomenon are proposed in this paper based on the current model study.