Impact of a tunneling particle on the quantum state of a barrier: two-particle wave-packet model

Abstract

We investigate the scattering of two distinguishable particles with unequal masses and a mutual short-range interaction with the aim of quantifying the impact of a tunneling ``projectile'' particle on the quantum mechanical state of the ``barrier'' particle. We find that the states of the barrier particle after the tunneling or reflection of the projectile are displaced by a finite distance that is given by the derivative of the phase of the transmission or reflection amplitudes multiplied by factors dependent on particles' masses, respectively. We demonstrate these results on a numerical example with a resonant interaction between a projectile and barrier. Our work demonstrates physical implication of the concept of phase time delay in the form of finite displacements of particles that are, in principle, experimentally measurable.