I Transmission coefficient limit

TheCanadian
Messages
361
Reaction score
13
I've attached the equation for the transmission coefficient of a particle going through a potential barrier and E < V. I was simply wondering in the limit V --> E, why does T --> 0 (i.e. the V-E term --> 0 and thus the denominator would approach infinity, making T --> 0)? Shouldn't it be approaching 1?
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2016-03-07 at 12.20.30 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2016-03-07 at 12.20.30 AM.png
    8.1 KB · Views: 463
Physics news on Phys.org
TheCanadian said:
I've attached the equation for the transmission coefficient of a particle going through a potential barrier and E < V. I was simply wondering in the limit V --> E, why does T --> 0 (i.e. the V-E term --> 0 and thus the denominator would approach infinity, making T --> 0)? Shouldn't it be approaching 1?
There is also the ##sinh²(k_1 a)## to take into account, since ##V_0 \rightarrow E## implies ##k_1 \rightarrow 0##.

Purely mathematically, you will get as limit ##1+\frac{mEa²}{2 {\hbar}^2}## in the denominator.
(Physically maybe ##E \rightarrow V_0## makes more sense, so in the limit, replace ##E## by ##V_0##.)
 
Last edited:
Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. Towards the end of the first lecture for the Qiskit Global Summer School 2025, Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Olivia Lanes (Global Lead, Content and Education IBM) stated... Source: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/quantum-entanglement-is-a-kinematic-fact-not-a-dynamical-effect/ by @RUTA
If we release an electron around a positively charged sphere, the initial state of electron is a linear combination of Hydrogen-like states. According to quantum mechanics, evolution of time would not change this initial state because the potential is time independent. However, classically we expect the electron to collide with the sphere. So, it seems that the quantum and classics predict different behaviours!

Similar threads

Back
Top