Tunneling Times in a Taut String

The mathematical analogy of classical and matter waves can help to teach the elusive subject of tunneling times in undergraduate physics courses. The tunneling of mechanical energy through a taut string is revisited in this paper in order to study tunneling times for this classical system. General properties of the group delay, the dwell time and the interference time are described. Moreover, we explain how to build string arrays with piecewise constitutive parameters that behave like quantum mechanical heterostructures with alternating well and barrier layers. The paradoxical Hartman effect is also analyzed.