Miscellaneous Features of SSS Software

Getting Started

Read quickly through the three first files under General help, this one, Sliders, and Graphs. For a reminder of alternative ways to use the interface, read them again after you've used the program for a while.

Next read the Special features file for the program you're using. It will tell you of features specific to that particular program which you're unlikely to discover by just clicking on buttons.

Play briefly with the program by clicking buttons. Most things will become evident after a little playing around. If the function of a particular button is not clear, open the Parameter definitions file in the help menu for more information.

Work through the presets for this program. It will "exercise" you a little with both the physics and the manipulations of the program.

Four buttons on every program

PRESETS
A preset is a set of system parameters chosen to illustrate a particular aspect of the physics. Associated with each preset is an annotation, a paragraph or two commenting on the system behavior. There are two ways to access a preset.

The fastest way to get the preset, without the annotation, is to select the preset from the preset menu accessed by clicking on the preset button. If you wish to keep the menu available, tear it off by clicking on the perforated line at the top of the list of choices.

An alternative is to click on Presets for browsing on the help page for the program. The presets are listed by number and title. To get the preset without the annotation, just click on the number. A click on the title gives the corresponding annotation, and the preset can be loaded with a click from the annotation page.

Follow the instructions for installing presets to add your own favorite combination of parameters: a feature particularly useful for using the simulations in the lecture room.

CONFIGURE
For nearly all of the programs there are additional parameters which may be changed in a dialog box accessed by clicking on the configure button. The most important for many of the programs is the number of electrons, atoms, or spins. The results are more satisfying if the number is chosen large; and are obtained faster if the number is small. The best number will depend on the speed of your computer, and your taste in physics.

If you change a preset with the configure dialog open, the entries are not updated automatically. Always click on revert when looking up a number in the configure box, to assure that you are seeing current values.

HELP
Find out what's available by exploring the various files in the help system.

If you've lost your way in the help files, a click on the home button at the top of the window will get you back to the main help menu for the active program.

QUIT
Puts the program away when you're done with it.

Other issues

MOUSE BUTTONS
For the Mac: "left mouse button" = the mouse button
"right mouse button" = the mouse button with the Control key held down
"middle mouse button" = the mouse button with the Shift key held down

For Windows: "middle mouse button" = the left mouse button with the Shift key held down

ANIMATION SPEED
The programs with animations will run at different speeds on different platforms; sometimes painfully slowly, sometimes too fast to see what's happening. You will likely want to adjust the speed in a combination of two ways: changing the system size in a configure menu, and adjusting a speed control. You may wish to save these altered values using the preset system.

RED TYPE
Any time you see a parameter displayed in red instead of in black, it's a warning that the displayed number is different from the one the program is using. Learn to use it as a reminder to hit the Enter or Return key after typing in new values.

SPECIAL FEATURES VS. PARAMETER DEFINITIONS
These two help files contain information specific to the individual programs. The Special features file gives information about gimmicks and gizmos that are used in only one or a few programs. You need to know about them to use the program efficiently , so read this file soon after you begin working with each program.

The Parameter definitions file may help clear up ambiguities or puzzles about the function of a particular button. It is useful for reference but don't bother with it until you need some information.

IS IT HUNG?
Occasionally your computer will appear to be hung: it doesn't want to respond to anything you do. Some suggestions:

Be sure it's hung: Some programs take a while to execute, and will ignore commands while working. This is a BAD time to click buttons at random: the clicks can go into a buffer and start more calculations when the first is done, prolonging the agony. For the offending programs, the cursor becomes a wrist watch during the calculation to alert you that a calculation is in progress. It works, however, only when the cursor is in the slider panel area and NOT in the graphical display windows. This is the best check for these delays.
Sometimes an error message window gets hidden behind another window. You must "OK" the error message before you can do anything else, which means moving windows around until you find the error message. Moral: OK error messages before doing anything else.
If a graph seems not to be working properly (it's blank, or shows only a limited range) it may have been left "zoomed". Try a click with the right mouse button.
If it really is?: When convinced the computer is hung: try the escape key as an alternative way to quit the program gracefully; Finally resort to whatever measures are appropriate for your platform (e.g., in Unix, try Control-C). Please characterize these situations as best you can and send us the information at sss@ruph.cornell.edu.

Additional exercises

Included in every program are a few examples of exercises which may be used to supplement the material in the guidebook, Simulations for Solid State Physics. These examples are built on graphs and animation displays taken from the simulations. They are organized by major sections in the guidebook and answers are found by clicking on the problem number. If used either in testing (the answer files could be removed) or self study, the real proof of understanding is not having the right answer, but the ability to give a sound argument in support of whatever answer you give, whether it be right or wrong.

You may add exercises of your own to supplement the examples given here with your own library of problems. Get your students to generate exercises for each other; either with or without answers, as you like.

Statistical Mechanics: Entropy, Order Parameters, and Complexity, now available at Oxford University Press (USA, Europe).