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arXiv:quant-ph/0103001 · Physical Review A

Quantum-mechanical effects in a time-varying reflection barrier

Somshubhro Bandyopadhyay, A. S. Majumdar, Dipankar Home

Published May 8, 2002• 11 citations
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Abstract

A curious effect is uncovered by calculating the time evolving probability of reflection of a Gaussian wave packet from a rectangular potential barrier while it is perturbed by reducing its height. A time interval is found during which this probability of reflection is larger (superarrivals) than in the unperturbed case. This nonclassical effect can be explained by requiring a wave function to act as a ``field'' through which an action, induced by the perturbation of the boundary condition, propagates at a speed depending on the rate of reducing the barrier height.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.65.052718

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In previous studies, by the methods of wave mechanics, of one-dimensional motion of particles in cases in which there are intervals in which the value of the potential energy function $V(x)$ exceeds the value of the total energy $E$, attention has been confined to wave functions of the form $f(x, E)\mathrm{exp}(\ensuremath{-}\frac{2\ensuremath{\pi}\mathrm{iEt}}{h})$. In the present note wave packets are considered, instead of these trains of waves.The function $V(x)$ is taken as follows: ${V(x),=0 \mathrm{for} x<0 \mathrm{and}\mathrm{for} x>a,}{={V}_{0}>0 \mathrm{for} 0<x<a.}$ A wave function is set up which initially represents a wave packet moving toward the point $x=0$ from the left. The separation of the incident packet into a reflected packet and a transmitted packet is studied. It is found that the transmitted packet appears at the point $x=a$ at about the time at which the incident packet reaches the point $x=0$, so that there is no appreciable delay in the transmission of the packet through the barrier.

Physical Review•May 15, 1932•349 citations
A curious effect is uncovered by calculating the time evolving probability of reflection of a Gaussian wave packet from a rectangular potential barrier while it is perturbed by reducing its height. A time interval is found during which this probability of reflection is larger (superarrivals) than in the unperturbed case. This nonclassical effect can be explained by requiring a wave function to act as a ``field'' through which an action, induced by the perturbation of the boundary condition, propagates at a speed depending on the rate of reducing the barrier height.
Scattering of a Gaussian wavepacket from rectangular potential barriers with increasing widths or heights is studied numerically. It is seen that during a certain time interval the time-evolving transmission probability increases compared to the corresponding unperturbed cases. In the literature this effect is known as superarrival in transmission probability. We present a trajectory-based explanation for this effect by using the concept of quantum potential energy and computing a selection of Bohmian trajectories. Relevant parameters in superarrivals are determined for the case that the barrier width increases linearly during the dispersion of the wavepacket. Nonlinearity in time perturbation is also considered.
An analytical treatment of a propagating wave packet incident on a transient barrier reveals a counterintuitive quantum mechanical effect in which, for a particular time interval, the time-varying transmission probability {\it exceeds} (`superarrival') that for the free propagation of the wave packet. It is found that the speed with which the information about the barrier perturbation propagates across the wave packet can exceed the group velocity of the wave packet. An interesting implication of this effect regarding information transfer is analyzed by showing one-to-one correspondence between the strength of the barrier and the magnitude of `superarrival'.
We discuss a solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation that incorporates absorbing boundary conditions and a method for extracting the reflection and transmission probabilities for wave packets interacting with time-dependent potential barriers. We apply the method to a rectangular barrier that moves with constant velocity, an oscillating rectangular barrier, a locally periodic barrier with an amplitude modulated by a traveling wave, and a locally periodic potential with an amplitude modulated by a standing wave. Visualizations of the reflection phenomena are presented with an emphasis on understanding these systems from their dynamics. Applications to non-stationary neutron optics experiments are discussed briefly.
In previous studies, by the methods of wave mechanics, of one-dimensional motion of particles in cases in which there are intervals in which the value of the potential energy function V(x)V(x)V(x) exceeds the value of the total energy EEE, attention has been confined to wave functions of the form $f(x, E)\mathrm{exp}(\ensuremath{-}\frac{2\ensuremath{\pi}\mathrm{iEt}}{h})$. In the present note wave packets are considered, instead of these trains of waves.The function V(x)V(x)V(x) is taken as follows: V(x),=0forx<0andforx>a,=V0>0for0<x<a.{V(x),=0 \mathrm{for} x<0 \mathrm{and}\mathrm{for} x>a,}{={V}_{0}>0 \mathrm{for} 0<x<a.}V(x),=0forx<0andforx>a,=V0​>0for0<x<a. A wave function is set up which initially represents a wave packet moving toward the point x=0x=0x=0 from the left. The separation of the incident packet into a reflected packet and a transmitted packet is studied. It is found that the transmitted packet appears at the point x=ax=ax=a at about the time at which the incident packet reaches the point x=0x=0x=0, so that there is no appreciable delay in the transmission of the packet through the barrier.