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arXiv · 0904.0609

Tunneling of the 3rd kind

Holger Gies·Joerg Jaeckel
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Abstract

We study a new kind of tunneling of particles through a barrier particular to quantum field theory. Here, the particles traverse the barrier by splitting into a virtual pair of particles of a different species which interacts only very weakly with the barrier and can therefore pass through it. Behind the barrier, the pair recombines into a particle of the original species. As an example, we discuss the case where photons split into a pair of minicharged particles. This process could be observed in experiments of the light-shining-through-a-wall type and may be used to search for minicharged particles in laboratory experiments.

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Holger Gies, Joerg Jaeckel. 2009-04-03. Tunneling of the 3rd kind. https://doi.org/10.1088/1126-6708/2009/08/063

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