Quantum Relaxation Time in Asymmetric Bistable Potential

Quantum tunneling effect occurs often in condensed matter physics, examples are JJs, heteronanostructures, etc.. The tunneling effect plays an important role in the nonlinear relaxation time from a metastable state in an open quantum system, interacting with a thermal bath. Symmetrical and asymmetric bistable systems are good quantum model systems for analysis of the "superconducting quantum bits" and decoherence phenomena. To obtain very long coherence times in the presence of interaction between the qubit and the noisy environment is one of the greatest challenges of physics. The inf1uence of the environment in quantum tunneling has been in the focus of intense research over the last year…