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Image: QuantumHarmonicOscillatorAnimation

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QuantumHarmonicOscillatorAnimation.gif ‎(300 × 373 pixels, file size: 759 KB, MIME type: image/gif, looped, 97 frames)

Description: A harmonic oscillator in classical mechanics (A-B) and quantum mechanics (C-H). In (A-B), a ball, attached to a spring (gray line), oscillates back and forth. In (C-H), wavefunction solutions to the Time-Dependent Schrödinger Equation are shown for the same potential. The horizontal axis is position, the vertical axis is the real part (blue) or imaginary part (red) of the wavefunction. (C,D,E,F) are stationary states (energy eigenstates), which come from solutions to the Time-Independent Schrodinger Equation. (G-H) are non-stationary states, solutions to the Time-Dependent but not Time-Independent Schrödinger Equation. (G) is a randomly-generated superposition of the four states (E-F). H is a "coherent state" ("Glauber state") which somewhat resembles the classical state B.
Title: QuantumHarmonicOscillatorAnimation
Credit: Own work
Author: Sbyrnes321
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication
License: CC0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en
Attribution Required?: No

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