051
Wavefunction phase and density
A helix whose side view is the textbook wave and whose thickness is where the particle is found.
Field
Detail
Study
051
Chapter
Quantum mechanics
Equation
ψ(x) = |ψ(x)| e^(iθ(x)), ρ(x) = |ψ(x)|²
What moves
the relative phase φ between two waves
Structure
Film
Colour means
probability density ρ
Posted
A coiled line runs along an axis. From the side it reads as a wave; looking down the axis it reads as a circle. The distance from the axis is the wavefunction’s magnitude and the angle round it is the phase. The probability of finding the particle, drawn beneath as a white curve, depends on the magnitude alone. When a second wave is added and its phase turned, the pattern of peaks shifts: that is interference.