Quantum Tunneling of Water in Beryl: A New State of the Water Molecule

2016/04/22 by А. И. Колесников, George Reiter, Narayani Choudhury +7 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Materials Science · #Mineralogy and Gemology Studies #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Glass properties and applications

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.116.167802

openalex publication_date 2016/04/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Using neutron scattering and ab initio simulations, we document the discovery of a new "quantum tunneling state" of the water molecule confined in 5 Å channels in the mineral beryl, characterized by extended proton and electron delocalization. We observed a number of peaks in the inelastic neutron scattering spectra that were uniquely assigned to water quantum tunneling. In addition, the water proton momentum distribution was measured with deep inelastic neutron scattering, which directly revealed coherent delocalization of the protons in the ground state.

Citations

• VESTA: a three-dimensional visualization system for electronic and structural analysis
• Water — an enduring mystery

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