  Quantum carpets are generic spacetime patterns formed in the probability
distributions P(x,t) of one-dimensional quantum particles, first discovered in
1995. For the case of an infinite square well potential, these patterns are
shown to have a detailed quantitative explanation in terms of a travelling-wave
decomposition of P(x,t). Each wave directly yields the time-averaged structure
of P(x,t) along the (quantised)spacetime direction in which the wave
propagates. The decomposition leads to new predictions of locations, widths
depths and shapes of carpet structures, and results are also applicable to
light diffracted by a periodic grating and to the quantum rotator. A simple
connection between the waves and the Wigner function of the initial state of
the particle is demonstrated, and some results for more general potentials are
given.
