Editing Files
If you wish you can change the functionality of a given animation by editing
the OSP Control window's dialog box. Once you have made changes simply
click the New button and then
Start. If you have a set of parameters you like you can
Save them too.

You can change the following parameters in the OSP Control window:
-
dt: sets the time step. This is Important for viewing
revival behavior. It is also important if you change the behavior of
the animation or the energy scale as both of these changes can affect how
the animation appears. Once you have a decent looking animation,
changing the time step allows you to fine-tune the animation to focus on
certain aspects of the animation.
-
x min: sets the minimum x that will be shown in the graphs.
This will also set where the well begins for infinite well potentials.
-
x max: sets the maximum x that will be shown in the graphs.
This will also set where the well ends for infinite well potentials.
-
psi range: sets the y range for the wave function graph.
-
rho range: sets the y range for the probability density graph.
-
numpts: sets the number of points at which the animation will be
calculated and drawn on the graphs. For numerical solutions, this is
an extremely important parameter which ensures that the wave function will
be calculated properly.
-
re coef: sets the real part of the expansion coefficients.
This is a comma delimited list. For example, {0,0,0,1} would set the
real part of c4 = 1.
-
im coef: sets the imaginary part of the expansion coefficients.
This is a comma delimited list. For example, {0,0,0,1} would set the
imaginary part of c4 = 1.
-
V(x): sets the potential energy function. This can be done
two different ways: entering in an analytic expression for the potential or
entering the words well or sho. Entering an analytic expression will
force the program to calculate the energy eigenstates in position space
numerically before the superposition is calculated. Since the infinite
square well (well) and simple harmonic oscillator (sho) are such common
problems, and their eignestates can be written analytically, these two cases
are hard-coded in analytically if you use well or sho as the potential
energy function.
-
energy scale: sets the energy (and therefore the time) scale for
the animation. A value of 1 sets hbar2/2m = 1. For
infinite square well revivals it is often convenient to set the energy scale
equal to 2/π as this recasts the time in terms of the revival time.
-
time format: sets the number of digits in the time
display. For example setting the time format to 0.000 will make the
animation display 3 digits after the decimal point. This is important
if the dt set is very small.

The above OSP Control window shows an example of an equal-mix
superposition of sho position-space energy eigenstates (analytic).