- Augustine Pamplany CST
Imagine rolling a small ball towards a hill. If it does not have enough energy, it rolls back. But inside atoms, the rules become far stranger. This is the world of quantum physics, where tiny particles act like waves and can sometimes do what appears impossible. One of the most surprising events in this realm is quantum tunnelling.
In ordinary life, nothing passes through a solid wall. Yet in the quantum world, a particle can sometimes appear on the other side of a barrier even when it does not have the energy to climb over it.
The Sun shines because hydrogen atoms inside it tunnel through an invisible energy barrier and fuse to release heat and light. Scientists use tunnelling in special microscopes that can see individual atoms, and even your phone stores information using electrons that tunnel through very thin layers. Quantum computers, the machines of the future, depend on tunnelling to move between different states.
This year’s 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis for showing tunnelling in electrical circuits that one can hold in the hand. Their experiments prove that this effect is not limited to atoms but can shape larger technologies.
Tunnelling also invites us to think about our bodies and the deeper nature of reality. The Christian story tells that after the resurrection, Jesus entered a room even though the doors were shut. If particles in nature can slip through barriers in quiet and surprising ways, might this hint at spiritual possibilities hidden within our bodies as well? The quantum world suggests that the universe is more open, mysterious and full of promise than it first appears.
