This java applet displays the wave functions of the rigid rotator (rigid rotator). In the center of the applet, you will see the probability distribution of the particle's position on a sphere. The color indicates the phase. At the bottom of the screen is a set of phasors showing the magnitude and phase of some of the possible states.
You may select a single state by picking one of the phasors at the bottom and double-clicking on it. Or, you may click on the phasor and drag its value to modify the magnitude and phase. In this way, you can create a combination of states.
Between the sphere in the center and the phasors at the bottom of the screen, there is a dividing line between the two panes. You can drag this line to adjust the relative sizes of each.
The Mouse popup controls what happens when the mouse is clicked and dragged. If the popup is set to Mouse = Create Gaussian, then clicking the mouse on the sphere will create a gaussian wave packet. You can drag the mouse to adjust the size of the gaussian. If the popup is set to Mouse = Gaussian w/ Momentum, then clicking the mouse will create a gaussian with angular momentum about the z axis, travelling to the right (or left). Dragging the mouse will adjust the size of the packet, and the magnitude of the momentum.
The Stopped checkbox stops the evolution of the wave function.
The Clear button clears out all states.
The Normalize button normalizes the set of electron states. (By default, the states are not shown normalized because the interface is easier to use if they are not. They are normalized internally when calculating the wave functions, however.)
The Maximize button changes the magnitude of the electron states so that they are all as large as possible. This makes them easier to see when looking at the phasors. (It won't change the wave function at all because the states are normalized internally.)
The Simulation Speed slider changes the speed of the wave function evolution.
The Brightness slider controls the brightness, just like on a TV set. This can be used to view faint areas more easily.
The Image Resolution slider controls the resolution of the box image. Higher resolution images are slower.
The Phasor Count slider allows you to select how many state phasors to display.
The View Menu has the following items:
