Download.Installation.Main

Installing the Matlab/Octave version of WavePacket

Upon download you are left with essentially two directories

1. Directory ''Sources'' (and its subdirectories) containing the source codes has to be added to the search path for MatLab or Octave. The main codes for solution of the time-independent or time-dependent Schrödinger equation (using grid methods in position/momentum space representation or other DVR/FBR approaches) are realized as Matlab functions in files qm_bound.m and qm_propa.m, respectively. Note that the latter can also be used to solve fully classical or quantum classical Liouville equations using (surface hopping) trajectory methods. Alternatively, you can solve the time-dependent Schrödinger or Liouville-von Neumann equation in an eigen/energy representation; an extension of the latter approach toward optimal control is available in qm_optimal.m. (Actually, there are a few others; for a complete list see here.) The subdirectories contain functions and classes that are invoked by all of these programs. As a normal user, you don't have to make changes in any of the source codes with one exception: You may perhaps want to change the standard settings for the visualization that are contained e.g. in this file. For additional information, see also our description of variable "plots".

2. Directory ''Demos'' contains various examples that are also available as demo examples in the WavePacket central Wiki. It is a good idea to run at least a few of those to familiarize yourself with the use of the WavePacket software.

Tip: It is recommended to run each of your own simulations in a working directory of its own. That directory can be arbitrarily named. Upon starting Matlab or Octave you should first go to that working directory using the Matlab/Octave cd command. Then, before actually running qm_bound.m, qm_propa.m, or any of the other WavePacket functions, make sure that the codes of those functions in the source directory can be accessed by using the Matlab/Octave addpath command.