Landau-Zener problem for energies close to potential crossing points

Lukong Cornelius Fai, Martin Tchoffo, M.N. Jipdi

Guozhu Sun, Xueda Wen, Jian Chen +3 more

Viktor A. Benderskii, E. V. Vetoshkin, Efim I Kats

We examine a previously overlooked aspect of the well-known Landau-Zener (LZ) problem, namely, the behavior in the intermediate, i.e., close to a crossing point, energy region, when all four LZ states are coupled and should be taken into account. We calculate the 4×4 connection matrix in this intermediate energy region, possessing the same block structure as the known connection matrices for the tunneling and in the over-barrier regions of the energy and continuously matching those in the corresponding energy regions. Applications of the results may concern various systems of physics, chemistry, or biology, ranging from molecular magnets and glasses to Bose condensed atomic gases.

David Waxman

Chaoyuan Zhu, Hiroki Nakamura

Based on the achievements of the previous three papers of this series, the best working formulas for scattering matrix are obtained for both the Landau–Zener (LZ) and the nonadiabatic tunneling (NT) case: two formulas valid at b2≥0 and b2≤0 in the LZ case, and three formulas valid atb2≤−1, −1≤b2≤1 and b2≥1 in the NT case, where b2 represents the effective energy. Simple and compact formulas which work far better than the LZ formula are proposed for nonadiabatic transition probability by one passage of crossing point for both the LZ and NT cases. Furthermore, compact expressions are derived, for the first time, for the nonadiabatic tunneling probability at b2≤1, i.e., at energies lower than the bottom of the upper adiabatic potential. All the formulas proposed here can be usefully utilized at any coupling strength, namely the validity range has been very much expanded compared to the previous formulas by employing certain empirical corrections. Besides, these formulas have convenience to enable an extension to general curved potentials.

Hiroki Nakamura

The compact analytical complete solutions recently obtained for the two-state Landau-Zener-Stueckelberg problems are reviewed and explained. The theory covers both Landau-Zener (LZ) type in which the two diabatic potential curves cross with the same sign of slopes and the nonadiabatic tunneling (NT) type in which the potentials cross with different signs of slopes. The theory is applicable virtually in the whole range of energy and coupling strength and is convenient for practical use. The new theory for time-dependent nonadiabatic transition can be formulated from the time-independent theory of the LZ-type. The utilizability of the theory to various multi-channel problems and also to multi-dimensional problems is demonstrated and explained. The intriguing phenomenon of complete reflection which appears in the NT-case is explicitly utilized to propose a new type of molecular switching and to control molecular processes such as molecular photodissociation. Also proposed is a new way of controlling molecular processes by using time-dependent external fields. Finally, a trial to formulate a unified analytical theory to cover both Landau-Zener-Stueckelberg and Rosen-Zener-Demkov types of nonadiabatic transitions is briefly touched upon.