Regular and chaotic quantum dynamics in the driven square well
A website to accompany an article for the American Journal of Physics
by Todd Timberlake
[Overview] [Mathematica Code] [ETC]
Overview
This website is intended to supplement an
article that has been submitted to the American
Journal of Physics. The article presents several aspects of quantum chaos, or quantum dynamical behavior
that is connected with chaotic motion in the classical version of the same system. The model examined is
a periodically driven particle in an infinite square well. This model is simple enough to be accessible
to advanced undergraduates who have taken (or are taking) an upper-level quantum mechanics course. It should
also be accessible to beginning graduate students. To facilitate the use of this material in the classroom, or
for student research projects, I include on this page Mathematica code that can be used to carry out many of
the calculations discussed in the paper.
The Mathematica Code
Below are links to a Mathematica notebook that can be used to carry out many of the
calculations discussed in the paper. Along with the code is a brief description of
what the code actually does. Hopefully this information, combined with the
descriptions in the article, will allow anyone to use these computational
tools on their own. Please feel free to use, modify, and distribute my Mathematica
code as you see fit (although an attribution would be nice).
The Mathematica notebook was created using Mathematica 5.0, but it should also
work in Mathematica 4.0 or later (and possibly even in earlier versions).
You can read the file (without executing it) using the free
MathReader software
from Wolfram Research.
Etc...
If you have any questions or problems with the Mathematica code, please email Todd Timberlake
at ttimberlake@berry.edu. FORTRAN code for carrying
out all of the calculations discussed in the article is also available from Todd Timberlake.
Todd K. Timberlake (ttimberlake@berry.edu)