Question

What role does the quantum mechanical phenomenon of “tunneling” play in alpha decay?

Answer 1

                        These nuclei would be perfectly stable without a laborious process that overcomes the nuclear forces and triggers decay. The attractive effect of the nuclear force stops abruptly out of the nucleus. If four nucleons, grouped into one alpha particle, are not anymore in touch with the other nucleons, this group feels only the repulsion due to the electric charge of the rest of the nucleus. Then it moves away faster and faster to acquire the kinetic energy of a few million electron volts which was discussed. The thing is to get to lose that contact.

QUANTUM TUNNELING EFFECT:

The mechanism proposed by Gamow was called "quantum tunneling" . The quantum tunneling or “tunnel effect” describes the fact that a particle behaves as both a particle and a wave in the infinitesimally small world where quantum mechanics replaces classical mechanics.

The alpha particle is found in the situation of a mountain climber, trapped in a crater, which has no more strength to join the mountaintop, passes on the other side and slide down toward the valley. The barrier to cross reflect the competition between the attractive nuclear force and the electrostatic repulsion. The alpha particle cannot cross the barrier because it does not have the necessary energy: it is either inside or outside the nucleus.      At least for classical mechanics. In quantum mechanics, the situation is less obvious. The wave, which represent an alpha particle in the nucleus, is not strictly localized and slightly overlaps the other side of the fence. There is a probability of observing the particle outside the nucleus, where the nuclear force is no longer felt. This probability is extremely small, but it enables the decay. Again with the image of the climber, the trick at his disposal to win the other side of the mountain and find freedom, is to dig a tunnel through it.
An empirical law says that higher is the potential barrier, larger is the thickness to cross and greater is the nucleus lifetime. This explains some particularly long lifetimes.