On the stabilization of optical isomers through tunneling friction

A handed molecule may be represented as a particle in a symmetric double well. When placed in contact with a low temperature medium, the mean position of the particle obeys an equation of motion identical to a damped harmonic oscillator. The standard relaxation theory is used to relate the damping to classical friction, in agreement with recent path integral methods; however, no renormalization of the tunneling matrix element occurs. The stability of handedness is explained in terms of the damped oscillator.