Electrons on the Run – Space & Physics | Weizmann Wonder Wander

Will an electron escaping a molecule through a quantum tunnel behave differently depending on the left- or right-handedness of the molecule?

Chemists have borrowed the phrases “left-handed” and “right-handed” from anatomy to describe molecules that are characterized by a particular type of asymmetry. To explore the concept of chirality, look at your hands, palms up. Clearly, the two are mirror images of one another. But try as we might to superimpose them, they will not overlap completely. Such objects, termed “chiral,” can be found at all scales in nature, from galaxies down to…