- #1
scarecrow
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Consider a particle moving in 1 dimension and encounters a potential step.
Suppose that the total energy of the particle is higher than the potential barrier height, E > V.
Wouldn't a classical mechanical particle, traveling at velocity v, break through the barrier? And wouldn't a quantum mechanical particle also break through the barrier? I see no difference between quantum and classical behavior in this particular case.
(This problem is different than that of quantum tunneling, where E < V and the classical particle reflects back, but the quantum particle "tunnels" through the other side.)
Suppose that the total energy of the particle is higher than the potential barrier height, E > V.
Wouldn't a classical mechanical particle, traveling at velocity v, break through the barrier? And wouldn't a quantum mechanical particle also break through the barrier? I see no difference between quantum and classical behavior in this particular case.
(This problem is different than that of quantum tunneling, where E < V and the classical particle reflects back, but the quantum particle "tunnels" through the other side.)