Yes. I understand it is possible for a single photon. The mechanism might not be necessarily the one described formally by QFT however.

iF a beam of light is incident on a very thin sliver of material,

some is reflected and some go through. Those going through

can be assumed to tunnel from the photon point of view.

So yes. It is just a question of amplitude for transmission.

Vladimir V. Lugovoi

Hi Vladimir.

If we understand the phenomenom of a virtual photon then it is easy to understand that quantum tunneling is a feature of single photon interaction with matter. IE all photons act individually but are statistically random.

A photon interacts with the atoms on one side of a barrier. This interaction creates a temporary field which causes an electron on the other side to jump to a lower quantum energy level.

This jump releases a photon which can be detected and (almost) immediately reabsorbs the energy from the surroundings, giving a cooling effect to the material.

We explain the interaction mathematically by assuming a 'virtual photon' has passed through the barrier. In practice nothing of the sort has happened.

However, explaining how a field affects material on the other side of a barrier without a quantum of energy passing through the barrier is beyond our current global maths (and philosophical) capability.

Generally, tunnelling is the quantum state for single-particle interaction with matter. For photons to interact with matter,it produces a temporary field and transfers an electron to a lower state level. The transfer releases a photon reabsorbs the energy from matter.............................................................

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