{
  "id": "cond-mat/9708057",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "1997-08-07T12:11:41.000Z",
  "updated": "1997-08-07T12:11:41.000Z",
  "title": "Decay of Metastable States: Sharp Transition from Quantum to Classical Behavior",
  "authors": [
    "D. A. Gorokhov",
    "G. Blatter"
  ],
  "comment": "14 pages, revtex, 9 figures inserted",
  "journal": "Phys. Rev. B 56 (1997) 3130",
  "doi": "10.1103/PhysRevB.56.3130",
  "categories": [
    "cond-mat.stat-mech",
    "cond-mat.supr-con",
    "hep-th"
  ],
  "abstract": "The decay rate of metastable states is determined at high temperatures by thermal activation, whereas at temperatures close to zero quantum tunneling is relevant. At some temperature $T_{c}$ the transition from classical to quantum-dominated decay occurs. The transition can be first-order like, with a discontinuous first derivative of the Euclidean action, or smooth with only a second derivative developing a jump. In the former case the crossover temperature $T_{c}$ cannot be calculated perturbatively and must be found as the intersection point of the Euclidean actions calculated at low and high temperatures. In this paper we present a sufficient criterion for a first-order transition in tunneling problems and apply it to the problem of the tunneling of strings. It is shown that the problem of the depinning of a massive string from a linear defect in the presence of an arbitrarily strong dissipation exhibits a first-order transition.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "1997-08-07T12:11:41.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "metastable states",
      "sharp transition",
      "classical behavior",
      "high temperatures",
      "first-order transition"
    ],
    "tags": [
      "journal article"
    ],
    "publication": {
      "publisher": "APS",
      "journal": "Phys. Rev. B"
    },
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "RevTeX",
      "pages": 14,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable"
    }
  }
}