Classical oscillators in the control of quantum tunneling: Numerical experiments

•The dynamics of classical oscillator can be exploited to solve tunneling.•The coupling strength as well as the control configuration has crucial role in shaping the nature and extent of control.•The anharmonicity, particle mass and harmonic stiffness of classical oscillator can be important control parameters.•The whole spectrum of tunneling control including enhancement, suppression as well as quantum localization, can be realized.•With quantum controller the control landscape is much simpler.

The dynamics of a classical anharmonic oscillator is exploited to control the tunneling dynamics of a quantum particle to which the classical oscillator is coupled. The mixed quantum classical problem is investigated at a mean-field like level. The anharmonic strength (λ), particle mass (Mc) and harmonic stiffness (ωc) of the classical controller are explored as possible control parameters for the tunneling dynamics. The strength, the type of coupling between the quantum system and classical controller and the effective frequency of the controller emerge as crucial factors in shaping the nature and extent of the control. A whole spectrum of possibilities starting from enhancement, suppression to complete destruction of tunneling emerge depending on values assigned to the control parameters, the type of coupling and the control configuration used. When classical controller is replaced by a quantum controller, the control landscape becomes much simpler.

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