A SEMICLASSICAL CORRELATION-FUNCTION APPROACH TO BARRIER TUNNELING

A time domain approach employing the semiclassical approximation to th e quantum mechanical propagator, as applied to Gaussian wavepackets, i s used to study the barrier penetration problem. We have observed that qualitative agreement with the exact quantum calculations for the cor relation function and the transmission probability can be achieved by considering only classically allowed trajectories. The results slowly tend to the classical step function at the barrier top as a function o f the wavepacket center parameter, however. We suggest that a full sem iclassical calculation, including nonclassical trajectories with compl ex energies, would improve the results.