Barrier Penetration and Superluminal Velocity

Peter Mittelstaedt, G. Nimtz

Tore Wessel-Berg

Feng Xiao, Hong Mei Guo, Luming Li +2 more

Christian Bracher, M. Kleber

Starting out with the dwell time approach by Smith for stationary one-dimensional tunneling problems, we introduce the notion of the minimum tunneling time required for traversal through an arbitrary potential barrier. The newly devised time scale is based on a simple variational principle and presents a strictly local quantity not depending on the asymptotics of the potential distribution. Its properties are illustrated using the customary square barrier as an example. The minimum tunneling time approach cannot support the existence of superluminal velocities in barrier penetration.

Christian Bracher, M. Kleber

Abstract Starting out with the dwell time approach by Smith for stationary one‐dimensional tunneling problems, we introduce the notion of the minimum tunneling time required for traversal through an arbitrary potential barrier. The newly devised time scale is based on a simple variational principle and presents a strictly local quantity not depending on the asymptotics of the potential distribution. Its properties are illustrated using the customary square barrier as an example. The minimum tunneling time approach cannot support the existence of superluminal velocities in barrier penetration.

F XIAO