As illustrated in figure 1, Hund was primarily concerned with characterizing the electronic energy eigenfunctions in terms of the quantum numbers for the limiting cases of united and widely separated atoms, as the distance between the atoms is changed adiabatically from zero to infinity. He explained the sharing of an electron between the atoms represented by the potential wells—so fundamental for an understanding of covalent chemical binding—and discussed the distinction between classical orbits and quantum mechanical wavefunctions.
In analogy with light waves, matter waves presumably would also penetrate and be transmitted through classically forbidden regions, albeit with attenuated amplitude. A quantitative analysis of the physical implications of this tunneling effect had to await Erwin Schrödinger’s wave mechanics and Max Born’s probability interpretation of the quantum wavefunction.
In analogy with light waves, matter waves presumably would also penetrate and be transmitted through classically forbidden regions, albeit with attenuated amplitude. A quantitative analysis of the physical implications of this tunneling effect had to await Erwin Schrödinger’s wave mechanics and Max Born’s probability interpretation of the quantum wavefunction.
In a talk given in 1931 and published in Phys. Z. 32, 833 (1931), Walter Schottky referred to the wellenmechanische Tunneleffekt (wavemechanical tunnel effect) at the metal-semiconductor interface. I found the first English use of the term “tunnel effect” in J. Frenkel, Wave Mechanics, Elementary Theory, Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK (1932). To this day, Frenkel’s rarely cited textbook provides one of the most comprehensive theoretical accounts of quantum tunneling.
In a talk given in 1931 and published in Phys. Z. 32, 833 (1931), Walter Schottky referred to the wellenmechanische Tunneleffekt (wavemechanical tunnel effect) at the metal-semiconductor interface. I found the first English use of the term “tunnel effect” in J. Frenkel, Wave Mechanics, Elementary Theory, Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK (1932). To this day, Frenkel’s rarely cited textbook provides one of the most comprehensive theoretical accounts of quantum tunneling.
