Using the Floquet-Bloch formalism we will briefly describe the generation of one dimensional optical lattice and the forces which provide the driving. We will show that two different mechanisms are responsible for the oscillations observed in these two experiments. These mechanisms are relevant to other physical phenomena. For example, they are relevant also for the enhancement or suppression of the transmission of electrons from one quantum well to another in solid state devices and the transfer of light from one wave guide to another in optical switches.
As we will show, one can achieve a control of the tunneling period over a range of several orders of magnitude by changing the frequency difference of the standing waves in the cold atom experiments by about 10% only.