Evolution of Wave Function through a Potential Barrier

Raghav Govind Jha & Varun Singh

St. Stephens College, Department of Physics Delhi 110007

17 March, 2010

Abstract In this work we will explain the phenomenon of quantum mechanical tunneling through numerical simulations. We will explicitly show the variation in the probability of the particle i.e 2 with the variation in incident energy, barrier energy and width of the barrier. The method used for evaluating the wavefunction at a dierent time is FFT (Fast Fourier Transform). The results obtained are in perfect agreement with the established results which adopts a dierent method of calculating wavefunctions.

Introduction

Many numerical methods are employed to solve partial dierential equations in Physics, one such method is method of nite dierences. Through this method, progress towards an approximate solution proceeds in a rather direct fashion. But sometimes there are advantages of being indirect. In this regard, Fourier transform in the form of FFT ( Fast Fourier Transform) algorithm, can be the basis of extremely accurate and ecient methods of solution. The motivation behind this is that in many situations the solution in the transform space is easier to obtain than is the solution in the original space. The solution to the original problem is then obtained by evaluating the inverse Fourier transform of the solution in the transform space. The general approach consists of three steps : 1. Transform the original partial dierential equation, and other initial conditions, into transform space 2. Solve the ( presumably simpler ) equation in transform space 3. Perform the inverse transform, so as to obtain the solution in terms of the original variables.

Note on Fourier Transform

We, while using numerical methods take step sizes of variables, since it cannot be considered continuous, we revert to using Discrete Fourier Transform.