Quantum physics allows particles to pass through energy barriers that they otherwise would not be able to cross. In chemistry, this “tunneling” can help explain how fast reactions occur as a system of particles moves through a barrier between two stable configurations. Now Max Schäfer at Yale University and his colleagues have demonstrated a quantum device that can precisely model such two-well systems [1]. This simulator could shed light on the dynamics of many chemical processes, ranging from catalysis to the mechanism by which genes are turned on and off.
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