Quantum traversal time across a potential well

Abstract

We consider the quantum traversal time of an incident wave packet across a potential well using the theory of quantum time of arrival (TOA)-operators. This is done by constructing the corresponding TOA-operator across a potential well via quantization. The expectation value of the potential well TOA-operator is compared to the free particle case for the same incident wave packet. The comparison yields a closed-form expression of the quantum well traversal time which explicitly shows the classical contributions of the positive and negative momentum components of the incident wave packet and a purely quantum mechanical contribution significantly dependent on the well depth. An incident Gaussian wave packet is then used as an example. It is shown that for shallow potential wells, the quantum well traversal time approaches the classical traversal time across the well region when the incident wave packet is spatially broad and approaches the expected quantum free particle traversal time when the wave packet is localized. For deep potential wells, the quantum traversal time oscillates from positive to negative implying that the wave packet can be advanced or delayed.