Details

If a quantum particle hits a rectangular potential barrier, then both the transmission coefficient and the reflection coefficient are periodic functions of the potential width in the case , but and are decreasing and increasing functions, respectively, in the case . Furthermore, and depend on the quotient of the wavenumbers of the incident particle and of the wave inside the barrier; . This is shown interactively. The behavior of a quantum particle contrasts with that of a classical particle, where , , or vice versa. The "quantum tunneling" effect is a pure quantum effect in the case . The formulas for and follow by solving the time-independent wave equation (Schrödingers equation) with boundary conditions.