dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaTunneling as a classical escape rate induced by the vacuum zero-point radiation
| Authors | A. J. Faria, H. M. Franca, R. C. Sponchiado |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0409119 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0409119 |
Abstract
We make a brief review of the Kramers escape rate theory for the probabilistic motion of a particle in a potential well U(x), and under the influence of classical fluctuation forces. The Kramers theory is extended in order to take into account the action of the thermal and zero-point random electromagnetic fields on a charged particle. The result is physically relevant because we get a non null escape rate over the potential barrier at low temperatures (T -> 0). It is found that, even if the mean energy is much smaller than the barrier height, the classical particle can escape from the potential well due to the action of the zero-point fluctuating fields. These stochastic effects can be used to give a classical interpretation to some quantum tunneling phenomena. Relevant experimental data are used to illustrate the theoretical results.
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"abstract": "We make a brief review of the Kramers escape rate theory for the\nprobabilistic motion of a particle in a potential well U(x), and under the\ninfluence of classical fluctuation forces. The Kramers theory is extended in\norder to take into account the action of the thermal and zero-point random\nelectromagnetic fields on a charged particle. The result is physically relevant\nbecause we get a non null escape rate over the potential barrier at low\ntemperatures (T -\u003e 0). It is found that, even if the mean energy is much\nsmaller than the barrier height, the classical particle can escape from the\npotential well due to the action of the zero-point fluctuating fields. These\nstochastic effects can be used to give a classical interpretation to some\nquantum tunneling phenomena. Relevant experimental data are used to illustrate\nthe theoretical results.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0409119",
"authors": [
"A. J. Faria",
"H. M. Franca",
"R. C. Sponchiado"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"title": "Tunneling as a classical escape rate induced by the vacuum zero-point radiation",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0409119"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
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"execution_id": "48ee7739-a3c5-4fb9-a179-0f1018f3666c",
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"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
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