052
Quantum revival
A wave packet that breaks up inside a box and returns, exactly.
Field
Detail
Study
052
Chapter
Quantum mechanics
Equation
ψ(x, T_rev) = ψ(x, 0)
What moves
t / T_rev, the fraction of the revival period
Structure
Film
Colour means
probability density |ψ|²
Posted
A wave packet starts as one tall peak inside the box from Study 042. It spreads, breaks into fine ripples and seems lost. The box sits on a turning drum whose surface carries the whole history: a quarter of the way round, two copies; halfway, a mirror image; a full turn, the first peak again. The return is exact because every component’s phase completes a whole number of turns at the same moment, T_rev.