- We analyze a general class of difference operators on where is a multi-well potential and is a small parameter. We decouple the wells by introducing certain Dirichlet operators on regions containing only one potential well, and we shall treat the eigenvalue problem for as a small perturbation of these comparison problems. We describe tunneling by a certain interaction matrix, similar to the analysis for the Schrodinger operator [see Helffer and Sjostrand in Commun Partial Differ Equ 9:337-408, 1984], and estimate the remainder, which is exponentially small and roughly quadratic compared with the interaction matrix.
