Quantum tunneling: A general study in multi-dimensional potential barriers with and without dissipative coupling

Quantum tunneling is formulated in terms of the time evolution of a localized state and thus shown to be dependent upon the eigenspectrum of the system Hamiltonian. A number of exactly solvable models with local and non-local double-well potentials are discussed, and it is shown how, for local potentials, other solvable models can be generated by using Gelfand-Levitan and Darboux transformations. Tunneling in multi-dimensional potential barriers is investigated under semi-classical approximation by developing the method of asymptotic expansion of the wave function for large quantum numbers and the WKB approximation for separable systems. General expressions for the imaginary-time tunneling trajectory are obtained in both methods and specific applications are discussed. Approximation schemes for non-separable systems are also presented. A general study of dissipative multi-dimensional tunneling is carried out by using the Gisin equation, the Schrödinger-Langevin equation and the complex potential model. It is shown that, in general, different models of dissipation are not equivalent in the tunneling context. Using these models one can show (a) the existence of critical damping beyond which no tunneling can occur, (b) that tunneling trajectories are dependent on the damping constant and (c) that dissipation may stabilize the excited state rather than the ground state. Finally the tunneling time delay in one-dimensional systems for undamped and for dissipative systems is formulated in terms of the phase shift, and this has been used to show that the effect of damping on the time delay is ignorable.