Quantum tunnelling or thermal hopping

Abstract

The nature of the transition from the quantum tunneling regime to the thermal hopping regime has importance in the study of condensed matter physics and cosmological phase transitions. It may also be of significance in collapse from quantum state to a classical state due to measurement (or loss of coherence due to some other process). We study this transition analytically in scalar field theory with a fourth order term. We obtain analytic bounce solutions which correctly give the action in thin and thick wall limits of the potential. We find that the transition is of the second order for the case of thick wall while it seems to be of first order for the case of thin wall.