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What are the necessary conditions for tunnelling?

What are the necessary conditions for tunnelling?

Astronomy
Astronomy
1st Edition
ISBN:9781938168284
Author:Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher:Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Chapter5: Radiation And Spectra
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 42E: What is the frequency of a red laser beam, with a wavelength of 670 nm, which your astronomy...
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What are the necessary conditions for tunnelling?

Expert Solution
Step 1

Tunnelling is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where a particle is able to penetrate through a potential barrier having energy that is higher than the kinetic energy of the incident particle.

According to classical mechanics, this is not possible, but it is still observed. There are certain conditions which need to be obeyed for quantum tunnelling.

Step 2

Three necessary conditions are:

  1. The barrier should have a finite height and width of the barrier should be narrow. That is the barrier must be thin, having a finite height.
  2. For quantum tunneling to be possible, it is required that particle energy should be less than the energy of the barrier, that is E < V.
  3. Quantum tunneling is applicable only to the microscopic objects, such as protons or electrons, because only those particles have the wavefunctions which can penetrate the barrier and not the macroscopic ones.
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