THROUGH THE WALL: The tunnel effect in the macrocosm

We propose an experiment to demonstrate the quantum tunnel effect in the macrocosm. Simply put - for the possible passage of goods through the wall.

It does not matter whether you have tried in earnest to pass through the wall, you know, it is impossible. For us - but not for the elementary particles that are capable of something similar for the manifestation of the tunneling effect.

Imagine, say, an electron in a particular energy state, as the ball lies in the deepening of the corrugated surface. To skip over the rise and turn in another recess, it is necessary to overcome the energy barrier. So it would be, whether it's really a ball and the rise - but in the world of quantum mechanics, a particle can overcome the energy barrier and is not getting enough energy for this ...

Despite the strangeness of the familiar in terms of logic, the tunneling effect is repeatedly demonstrated in the laboratory and is even used in the technique - for example, in the corresponding diodes, or certain types of hard drives of computers. More known for its use as a basis for the scanning tunneling microscope: the finest needle scans the sample surface and feeding on it a little tension between her and the sample through a small separation distance tunneling current occurs, the flow of charged-particle tunneling. The strength of this current can accurately determine the distance from the needle to the surface and consider it a relief just to atomic resolution.

Fortunately or not, but in the macrocosm the tunneling effect is not observed. More precisely, has not been observed until recently, all can change the interesting work published recently by scientists from the Finnish group Sillanpaa Mika (Mika Sillanpää). To do this, the authors suggest the use of micrometer -sized graphene ...

Graphene Membranes to let down her weak voltage is suspended over a metal substrate, so that has two stable configurations: a little curved, or slightly concave, with which it comes into contact with the substrate. Electromechanical interactions create a potential barrier between them. Now if we can cool the membrane strongly - up to thousandths of a degree above absolute zero - the membrane is not able to oscillate between two favorable terms on its own. The only way for her to move from one state to another is the tunneling. And notice it can be to change the system capacity, which occurs due to contact with the metal substrate.

Despite the microscopic size, such a membrane is still many orders of magnitude larger than individual atoms and molecules, to say nothing of elementary particles. So what if she does manage to achieve the tunneling effect can be rightly said of his first observation in the macrocosm.

According to the authors of the idea, the main technological complexity may be necessary to achieve and maintain ultra-low temperature. Because the system is enough to appear at least a small excess energy as heat - and the experience can no longer be called a pure. However, they are working on it and plan to put a real experiment within the next few years.