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- Title
Klein Tunnelling and the Klein Paradox.
- Authors
Calogeracos, A.; Dombey, N.
- Abstract
The Klein paradox is reassessed by considering the properties of a finite square well or barrier in the Dirac equation. It is shown that spontaneous positron emission occurs for a well if the potential is strong enough. The vacuum charge and lifetime of the well are estimated. If the well is wide enough, a seemingly constant current is emitted. These phenomena are transient whereas the tunnelling first calculated by Klein is time-independent. Klein tunnelling is a property of relativistic wave equations, not necessarily connected with particle emission. The Coulomb potential is investigated in this context: it is shown that a heavy nucleus of sufficiently large Z will bind positrons. Correspondingly, it is expected that as Z increases the Coulomb barrier will become increasingly transparent to positrons. This is an example of Klein tunnelling.
- Subjects
DIRAC equation; PARTIAL differential equations; VACUUM capacitors
- Publication
International Journal of Modern Physics A: Particles & Fields; Gravitation; Cosmology; Nuclear Physics, 1999, Vol 14, Issue 4, p631
- ISSN
0217-751X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1142/S0217751X99000312