Dissipative Quantum Tunneling in a Biased Double-Well System at Finite Temperatures

Abstract

We study quantum tunneling in a biased double-well potential in the presence of Ohmic dissipation with a friction coefficient $\ensuremath{\alpha}>1$. The tunneling rate out of the metastable well is calculated in real time as a function of the temperature $T$ and bias energy $\ensuremath{\epsilon}$. The $T=0$ result agrees with a droplet-model calculation in imaginary time. At low temperatures we find an enhancement to the $T=0$ rate varying as ${(\frac{T}{\ensuremath{\epsilon}})}^{2}$.