Abstract
The phenomenon of barrier penetration, such as tunnelling through a potential barrier, is an outstanding example of quantum behavior. Quantum particles can be found in regions where a classical particle coidd never go. since it would have negative kinetic energy. But in quantum theory, too, the eigenvalues of kinetic energy cannot be negative. How, then, can a quantum particle" tunnel"? The apparent paradox is resolved by noting that the wave function of a tunnelling particle only partly overlaps the forbidden region.
| Original language | English GB |
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| Title of host publication | Proc. 4th Int. Symp. Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Tokyo |
| State | Published - 1992 |