Abstract
We revise the conventional two-state theory for inversion tunneling of the ammonia molecule. A Gaussian wave packet peaked at the equilibrium position and with a negligible part in the barrier region is used to model the initial nitrogen atom. The inversion period of the nitrogen atom agrees with the real one. Compared to the two-state results, the time behavior of the probability in wells has additional small oscillation in a short time scale. For the asymmetric double-well, tunneling from the higher well to the lower well occurs generally. Through the help of a kick initial momentum, tunneling from the lower well to the high well is possible. But the time behavior in wells becomes irregular.
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Data sets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The author thanks the anonymous Referee for many valuable comments. He acknowledges helpful discussions with Professor Chyi-Lung Lin and Professor Ue-Li Pen.
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Jiang, TF. Inversion Tunneling in Symmetric and Asymmetric Double-Well. Int J Theor Phys 62, 144 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10773-023-05405-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10773-023-05405-w