Time evolutions of quantum mechanical states in a symmetric double‐well potential

The time evolution of quantum mechanical states in a square well of infinite depth with a Dirac δ function at its center has been examined for cases where the initial state was localized in one of the wells. Let well A denote the well in which the initial state is localized, and let P(t) denote the integrated probability density Ψ*Ψ in well A. For opaque barriers the time‐dependent system is adequately described by a two‐state model in which only the pair of stationary states of even and odd parity are considered whose wave functions in well A, apart from an arbitrary phase factor, are largely identical with the wave function of the initial state. For P(t) a harmonic oscillation is observed whose frequency ν_t is well approximated by the well‐known formula for the tunneling frequency ν_t≂ΔE/h, where ΔE represents the energy separation among the pair of states in the model. For the present model of a symmetric double well it has been shown that for highly transparent barriers a three‐state model can describe the time evolution adequately. The three stationary states involved in this model are a state of odd parity whose wave function in well A is largely the same as the wave function of the initial state and a pair of stationary states of even parity which on the energy scale are immediately above and below the first state. In this three‐state model the function P(t) is a superposition of two sinusoidal functions with nearly identical amplitudes and frequencies plus a constant. As a consequence, the amplitude of P(t) changes harmonically. In the present model a δ function has been used as a barrier in order to minimize the mathematical detail involved in the time‐dependent treatment. It is to be expected that the beating in P(t) can be observed also in the time evolution of a state localized in one of the wells of a symmetric double‐minimum potential with a more realistic ‘‘low’’ barrier if the density of energy levels near the energies of the levels to be considered in the corresponding three‐state model varies slowly with energy.