Abstract: Visualizations in interactive computer simulations are a powerful tool to help students develop productive mental models, particularly in the case of quantum phenomena that have no classical analogue. We describe efforts to refine the visual representation of a single-photon superposition state in the QuVis simulations. We developed various depictions of a photon incident on a beamsplitter, and investigated their influence on student thinking through individual interviews. Outcomes from this study led to the incorporation of a revised visualization in all QuVis single-photon simulations. In-class trials in 2013 and 2014 using the Interferometer Experiments simulation in an introductory quantum physics course were used for a comparative study of the initial and revised visualizations. We found that the revised visualization reduced the frequency of incorrect ideas about quantum superposition, such as the photon splitting into two half-energy components.
Keywords: quantum mechanics, simulations, conceptual understanding.
PACS: 01.50.ht, 03.65.-w