Tunnel effect is an amazing phenomenon,absolutely impossible from the standpoint of classical physics. But in the mysterious and mysterious quantum world, several other laws of interaction between matter and energy operate. The tunnel effect is the process of overcoming an elementary particle of a potential barrier, provided that its energy is less than the height of the obstacle. This phenomenon is of a purely quantum nature and completely contradicts all laws and dogmas of classical mechanics. The more surprising the world in which we live.
To understand what the quantum tunneling effect is,it is best to use the example of a golf ball, launched with some force into the hole. In any unit of time, the total energy of the ball is in opposition to the potential force of gravity. If we assume that its kinetic energy is inferior to the force of gravity, then this object can not independently leave the hole. But this is in accordance with the laws of classical physics. To overcome the edge of the fovea and continue its path, it will necessarily need an additional kinetic impulse. So the great Newton said.
In the quantum world the situation is somewhat different.And now let's assume that there was a quantum particle in the hole. In this case, it will be no longer a question of real physical deepening in the earth, but of what physicists are conventionally called a "potential well". This size has an analog of the physical side - the energy barrier. Here the situation changes in the most cardinal way. In order for the so-called quantum transition to occur and the particle to be outside the barrier, another condition is necessary.
If the strength of the external energy fieldless potential energy of the particle, then it has a real chance to overcome the barrier regardless of its height. Even if she does not have enough kinetic energy in the understanding of Newtonian physics. This is the same tunnel effect. He works as follows. Quantum mechanics is characterized by the description of any particle not with the help of some physical quantities, but by means of a wave function associated with the probability of the particle's location at a certain point of space in each specific unit of time.
When a particle collides with a certain barrier withUsing the Schrödinger equation, one can calculate the probability of overcoming this obstacle. Since the barrier not only energetically absorbs the wave function, it also extinguishes it exponentially. In other words, in the quantum world there are no insurmountable obstacles, and there are only additional conditions under which a particle can be outside these barriers. Various obstacles, of course, interfere with the movement of particles, but are by no means solid, impenetrable borders. Conditionally speaking, this is a kind of borderland between two worlds - physical and energetic.
The tunnel effect has its analogue in the nuclearphysics - autoionization of an atom in a powerful electric field. Examples of manifestations of tunneling abound and solid-state physics. These include field emission, migration of valence electrons, as well as effects that occur on the contact of two superconductors separated by a thin dielectric film. An important role is played by tunneling in the realization of numerous chemical processes in conditions of low and cryogenic temperatures.
