Application of the variational $R$-matrix method to one-dimensional quantum tunneling

Abstract

We have applied the variational $R$-matrix method to calculate the reflection and tunneling probabilities of particles tunneling through one-dimensional potential barriers for five different types of potential profiles -- truncated linear step, truncated exponential step, truncated parabolic, bell-shaped, and Eckart. Our variational results for the transmission and reflection coefficients are compared with exact analytical results and results obtained from other numerical methods. We find that our results are in good agreement with them. We conclude that the variational $R$-matrix method is a simple, non-iterative, and effective method to solve one-dimensional quantum tunneling problems.