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Validating · emergence

Quantum tunnelling

Can a quantum particle pass through a barrier taller than its own energy — a wall it classically could never cross?

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How the lab tests it

Launch a Gaussian wavepacket at a potential barrier with energy E < V₀ and evolve the Schrödinger equation (Visscher's norm-conserving scheme); measure the probability T that ends up beyond the barrier, and compare to the rectangular-barrier formula.

What it checks

T > 0 (classically T = 0 for E < V₀ — the particle always bounces) matching the tunnelling coefficient, while the total probability ∫|ψ|² stays 1 (unitary evolution)

This is one world in the PHS lab — 91 interactive simulations, each posing a question and measuring the answer. See the catalogued findings.