Rigorous relations for barrier transmittance and some physical corollaries

Abstract

Exactly solvable models are interesting for science and education, since they help in scientific search and in understanding of phenomena. Some exact solutions for simple quantum–mechanical models are considered. The models include two barriers, combinations of barrier pairs, three barriers, three wells, etc. The model of two barriers can predict some interesting phenomena in the one-dimensional case. Clearing of wave and quantum–mechanical barriers (including reflection-free passage) is an important problem of physics. The rigorous equations for the transmission and reflection coefficients are derived. Barriers in substances are combined into associations, where the bond within each association is stronger than bonds between associations. Some properties of disordered media (the transparency of glasses, the conductivity of alloys or melts, the brittleness, or ductility, etc.) can be qualitatively understood from this viewpoint. The same material can exhibit various properties: transparent and opaque, metallic and non-metallic, ordered and disordered, and so on. Such transitions can occur under pressure. A model of the three-well potential can be applied to the phenomena under consideration. Some remarks on 3-D cases are made.