Quantum Tunneling

[zeno]

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_tunneling): In quantum mechanics, quantum tunneling is a micro nanoscopic phenomenon in which a particle violates the principles of classical mechanics by penetrating or passing through a potential barrier or impedance higher than the kinetic energy of the particle.[1] A barrier, in terms of quantum tunnelling, may be a form of energy state analogous to a "hill" or incline in classical mechanics, which classically suggests that passage through or over such a barrier would be impossible without sufficient energy. On the quantum scale, objects exhibit wave-like behaviour; in quantum theory, quanta moving against a potential energy "hill" can be described by their wave-function, which represents the probability amplitude of finding that particle in a certain location at either side of the "hill". If this function describes the particle as being on the other side of the "hill", then there is the probability that it has moved through, rather than over it, and has thus "tunnelled".

I've tunneled this topic over from another thread that was getting a little too off-topic

I don't know much about TEW. Can it explain this phenomenon?

This video explains it very well and is scientifically accurate as far as I can tell:

[y_feldblum]

The video does a decent job describing the general understanding of quantum tunneling. An understanding of probability and statistics as well as an understanding of potential energies would help significantly in understanding what that Wikipedia article means, but the video is a good start.