Published October 2007 | Version v1
Journal article

Relativistic tunneling through two successive barriers

  • 1. Grupo de Fisica Teorica e Modelagem Matematica, Departamento de Matematica e Estatistica, Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, Avenida General Carlos Cavalcanti, 4748, CEP 84032-900, Ponta Grossa, PR (Brazil)
  • 2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55105 (United States)

Description

We study the relativistic quantum mechanical problem of a Dirac particle tunneling through two successive electrostatic barriers. Our aim is to study the emergence of the so-called generalized Hartman effect, an effect observed in the context of nonrelativistic tunneling as well as in its counterparts and which is often associated with the possibility of superluminal velocities in the tunneling process. We discuss the behavior of both the phase (or group) tunneling time and the dwell time, and show that in the limit of opaque barriers the relativistic theory also allows the emergence of the generalized Hartman effect. We compare our results with the nonrelativistic ones and discuss their interpretation

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Physical Review. A
Journal Volume
76
Journal Issue
4
Journal Page Range
p. 042111-042111.6
ISSN
1050-2947
CODEN
PLRAAN

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
39042452
Subject category
S71: CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS;
Descriptors DEI
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; DIRAC OPERATORS; PARTICLES; QUANTUM MECHANICS; RELATIVISTIC RANGE; TUNNEL EFFECT; VELOCITY
Descriptors DEC
ENERGY RANGE; EVALUATION; MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS; MECHANICS; QUANTUM OPERATORS

Optional Information

Notes
(c) 2007 The American Physical Society