The core physics relies on a process known as quantum tunneling. Imagine a particle, an electron for instance, encountering a solid barrier, say a slab of steel ten feet thick, that classical physics predicts it can’t penetrate. A hallmark of quantum mechanics is that the rigid classical notion of “can’t penetrate” often translates into the softer quantum declaration of “has a small but nonzero probability of penetrating.” The reason is that the quantum jitters of a particle allow it, every so often, to suddenly materialize on the other side of an otherwise impervious barrier. The moment at
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