j_bertolotti, 2 months ago

#PhysicsFactlet
A quantum simple pendulum.
The pendulum position is spread out, with opacity here being proportional to the probability that the pendulum is at that position at a given time. The average position of the quantum dynamics is the same as the classical pendulum dynamics (Ehrenfest theorem).

Technicalities: I used the Crank-Nicholson method to evolve the system in time. This is a 1D problem, and the only variable I considered was the angle, with the initial state being a Gaussian.

#QuantumMechanics #Physics #ITeachPhysics #Visualization

Schematic drawing of a simple pendulum oscillating, with its quantum version represented as a distribution of pendula with their transparency proportional to the probability to be at a certain position at any given time.