Computer Simulation of Quantum Mechanics - Porthouse The name of this file is README.TXT ---------- This particular file is not copyright. THIS INTRODUCTORY FILE is aimed principally at DOS users or anyone currently without a web browser. If you do have a web browser and you have QBasic available (see below), then load QUANTUM.HTM as a Local File and continue from there. On this disk you will find a number of BASIC programs which you can run. For each program, such as WPD.BAS, you should also find an EXE file such as WPD.EXE which you can run from the prompt just by typing its name A> WPD In this way, you can run any of the BASIC programs on this website, identified by the .BAS and .EXE extensions. They will all run on any computer from an 8088 to a Pentium. The programs are aimed at EGA graphics, but if you run them in CGA, you will still see something. We are believers in what is known as graceful degradation: if you don't have loads of money to chuck at the latest equipment, you should still be able to learn some physics, increase your earning power, and save up for that flashy new computer. The dialect of BASIC in use is Microsoft QBasic. The QBasic interpreter is available bundled in with MS-DOS 5.0 and later versions of MS-DOS, though not apparently with Windows 95/MS-DOS 7.0. It can also be understood by Microsoft QuickBasic 4.5 or Visual Basic for DOS. If you are running DR-DOS or some other DOS, you can still run programs like WPD.EXE and you could install QuickBasic 4.5 or Visual Basic for DOS. You can look at the TXT files with any editor, or list them on a printer for bedtime reading. You can do exactly the same with the HTM files. They are just the same as TXT files, but have extra codes like

and

which mean something to a web browser. We have taken the trouble to lay out the HTM files so that they are as intelligible as possible to someone who is using an ordinary text editor to look at them. You can look over the HTM files, and you will be able to read the text which was written to introduce each BASIC program. Plaintext and HTMLese have been put on separate lines wherever possible. Here is a map of the web site to help you:- Enter-> QUANTUM.HTM --- AUTHOR.HTM --- CHORIN.HTM | |-------- EXPON.HTM | |-------- BOHM.HTM | |-------- BOHR.HTM | |-------- OTHER.HTM | |-------- SUPERL.HTM | |-------- TEXTFILE.HTM --- TEXTAD.HTM | | | |-------- VERNAM.TXT | | | |-------- BOOKS.TXT | | | |-------- GLOSSARY.TXT | | | |-------- WPD.TXT | | | |-------- BOHR.TXT | |-------- VORTEX.TXT | | | |-------- OOP.TXT | | | |-------- RAINYDAY.TXT | | | |-------- LINKPAGE.HTM | | | |-------- README.TXT (this file) | | | `-------- VIRTUAL.TXT | | |-------- BASICPRO.HTM --- BASAD.HTM --- STREAML.HTM | | | |-------- ZIPAD.HTM --- UNZIP.TXT | | | |-------- BCAD.HTM ---- GO45.TXT | | | | | `--------- GOVB.TXT | | | |-------- WPD.BAS * | | | |-------- WPD1.BAS | |-------- WPD2.BAS | |-------- WPD3.BAS | | | |-------- DIRAC.BAS | | | |-------- SPECIAL.HTM --- DIRAC2.BAS | | |-------- VEC4.BAS | | |-------- DWAVEF.BAS | | `-------- RANDOM.BAS | | | |-------- RELAY.BAS | | | |-------- RODS.BAS * | | | |-------- GRAV.BAS * | | | |-------- VALLEN.BAS | | | |-------- RFS.BAS | | | |-------- SECOND.HTM ---- KHI2.BAS | | | | | |---------- KHI.BAS | | | | | `---------- KARMAN.BAS | | | `--------- THIRD.HTM | |-------- FURTHER.HTM | `-------- VINT.HTM --- INSTR.HTM | | | `-------- SUPERCH.HTM | |-------- WASTE.HTM | |-------- BAUGH.HTM | |-------- HELP.HTM | `-------- SEARCH.HTM The three starred programs, WPD.BAS, RODS.BAS and GRAV.BAS are recommended for beginners. You will see that the two files TEXTFILE.HTM and BASICPRO.HTM are probably worth listing on a printer and keeping by your side. Note that it is possible that only these three programs are provided as EXE files (i.e. WPD.EXE, RODS.EXE and GRAV.EXE). To look at the other BAS programs, you will need QBasic or a BASIC interpreter such as Microsoft QuickBasic 4.5. Looking through an HTM file, you will see at the start a lot of bureaucratic stuff whose meaning you can easily guess. Paragraphs of plaintext appear between the 'tags'

and

. It is mainly this plaintext that you will be looking at. Where you see text like
Dedication: In memory of David Bohm this is a 'hotlink'. The web browser user sees the text 'Dedication: In memory of David Bohm' in a different colour, usually blue, and if he or she points to this text and clicks on it with a mouse, then the browser loads in whatever the 'href=..." is pointing to. In this case, the file BOHM.HTM will be loaded in and displayed. In this manner, the user can jump around the website whose map we have shown above. You cannot do this if you do not have a web browser, but it helps to know what is going on. There is software available for DOS which will enable you to view HTM files and jump between them as the author intended. A link to a website which deals with this can be found in VINT.HTM You may also see a hotlink such as
WPD.BAS --- 14 K --- 525 When a web browser encounters a BASIC program, it can be told to start up the QBasic interpreter automatically, load the program and run it at once. Here we have a book with moving pictures. This is the magical part of the Internet. Max Born once published a book where if you riffled the page edges, you saw a moving display of electromagnetic radiation. The idea wouldn't have been too popular with librarians, but look what we can do now, Max. The author welcomes comments on his website, particularly with respect to the question of the Virtual Internet and graceful degradation for those who don't have all the latest equipment. CLICK ON "BACK" OR "BACKWARD" TO RETURN TO THE PREVIOUS PAGE ______________________________________________________________________________ This author's website is http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/anima/quantum.htm His e-mail address is 100425.3501@compuserve.com Fellow CompuServe subscribers may of course contact him on 100425,3501