Partnership for Integration of Computation into Undergraduate Physics

This is an assignment that I have given in my upper-level undergraduate quantum mechanics course. In class, we develop the theory to simulate quantum dynamics in an *arbitrary* 1D potential. Then I provide the students with "minimally working code" (template) that implements an algorithm that simulates the quantum dynamics for a 1D potential. This code numerically solves the Schrodinger Equation, which is a partial differential equation (PDE), given initial conditions (a time t=0 wavefunction) and a potential, V(x). The assignment for the students is then to use this working code in various different ways in order in order to simulate, interpret, and describe the results (in the form of a report).