H. J. W. Müller-Kirsten, Jiu-Qing Liang, Jian-Ge Zhou

• Starting from the coherent state representation of the evolution operator with the help of the path-integral, we derive a formula for the low-lying levels E = ffl0 Gamma 24ffl cos(s + ,)ss of a quantum spin system. The quenching of macroscopic quantum coherence is understood as the vanishing of cos(s + ,)ss in disagreement with the suppression of tunneling (i.e. 4ffl = 0) as claimed in the literature. A new configuration called the macroscopic Fermi-particle is suggested by the character of its wave function. The tunne- ling rate ( 24fflss ) does not vanish, not for integer spin s nor for a half-integer value of s, and is calculated explicitly (for the position dependent mass) up to the one-loop approximation.