Year: 1987
Type: article
Abstract: The author studies the barrier-crossing rate Gamma for a particle in a symmetric double well coupled to a sluggish bath; the aim is to justify the quantum simulation procedure used in related work on the diffusion of hydrogen in metals. He uses path-integral methods to discuss the transition between the low-temperature tunnelling and the high-temperature barrier-jumping regimes, and suggests a unifying formula valid for both, which relates Gamma to the probability of finding the centroid of the quantum path at the barrier top. Numerical results for Gamma are presented for the case of the quartic double well.
Author: M J Gillan
Institution: Research Complex at Harwell
Language: English
Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1981694796