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Droplet-shaped Wave
In physics, droplet-shaped waves are casual localized solutions of the wave equation closely related to the X-shaped waves, but, in contrast, possessing a finite support. A family of the droplet-shaped waves was obtained by extension of the "toy model" of X-wave generation by a superluminal point electric charge (tachyon) at infinite rectilinear motion to the case of a line source pulse started at time . The pulse front is supposed to propagate with a constant superluminal velocity (here is the speed of light, so ). In the cylindrical spacetime coordinate system , originated in the point of pulse generation and oriented along the (given) line of source propagation (direction ''z''), the general expression for such a source pulse takes the form : s(\tau ,\rho ,z) = \frac J(\tau ,z) H(\beta \tau -z) H(z), where and are, correspondingly, the Dirac delta and Heaviside step functions while is an arbitrary continuous function representing the pulse shape. Notably, for , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which relates to the order of nature, or, in other words, to the regular succession of events." Physics is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines, with its main goal being to understand how the universe behaves. "Physics is one of the most fundamental of the sciences. Scientists of all disciplines use the ideas of physics, including chemists who study the structure of molecules, paleontologists who try to reconstruct how dinosaurs walked, and climatologists who study how human activities affect the atmosphere and oceans. Physics is also the foundation of all engineering and technology. No engineer could design a flat-screen TV, an interplanetary spacecraft, or even a better mousetrap without first understanding the basic laws of physic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wave Equation
The (two-way) wave equation is a second-order linear partial differential equation for the description of waves or standing wave fields — as they occur in classical physics — such as mechanical waves (e.g. water waves, sound waves and seismic waves) or electromagnetic waves (including light waves). It arises in fields like acoustics, electromagnetism, and fluid dynamics. Single mechanical or electromagnetic waves propagating in a pre-defined direction can also be described with the first-order one-way wave equation which is much easier to solve and also valid for inhomogenious media. Introduction The (two-way) wave equation is a second-order partial differential equation describing waves, including traveling and standing waves; the latter can be considered as linear superpositions of waves traveling in opposite directions. This article mostly focuses on the scalar wave equation describing waves in scalars by scalar functions of a time variable (a variable repres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
X-wave
In physics, X-waves are localized solutions of the wave equation that travel at a constant velocity in a given direction. X-waves can be sound, electromagnetic, or gravitational waves. They are built as a non-monochromatic superposition of Bessel beams. Ideal X-waves carry infinite energy, but finite-energy realizations have been observed in various frameworks. Electromagnetic X-waves travel faster than the speed of light, and X-wave pulses can have superluminal phase and group velocity. In optics, X-waves solution have been reported within a quantum mechanical formulation.A. Ciattoni and C. ContiQuantum electromagnetic X-waves''arxiv.org'' 0704.0442v1. See also * Nonlinear X-wave * Droplet-shaped wave References * J. Lu and J. F. Greenleaf, "Nondiffracting X waves: exact solutions to free-space scalar wave equation and their infinite realizations", IEEE Trans. Ultrasonic Ferroelectric Frequency. ''Control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Support (mathematics)
In mathematics, the support of a real-valued function f is the subset of the function domain containing the elements which are not mapped to zero. If the domain of f is a topological space, then the support of f is instead defined as the smallest closed set containing all points not mapped to zero. This concept is used very widely in mathematical analysis. Formulation Suppose that f : X \to \R is a real-valued function whose domain is an arbitrary set X. The of f, written \operatorname(f), is the set of points in X where f is non-zero: \operatorname(f) = \. The support of f is the smallest subset of X with the property that f is zero on the subset's complement. If f(x) = 0 for all but a finite number of points x \in X, then f is said to have . If the set X has an additional structure (for example, a topology), then the support of f is defined in an analogous way as the smallest subset of X of an appropriate type such that f vanishes in an appropriate sense on its complement. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tachyon
A tachyon () or tachyonic particle is a hypothetical particle that always travels faster than light. Physicists believe that faster-than-light particles cannot exist because they are not consistent with the known laws of physics. If such particles did exist they could be used to send signals faster than light. According to the theory of relativity this would violate causality, leading to logical paradoxes such as the grandfather paradox. Tachyons would exhibit the unusual property of increasing in speed as their energy decreases, and would require infinite energy to slow down to the speed of light. No verifiable experimental evidence for the existence of such particles has been found. In the 1967 paper that coined the term, Gerald Feinberg proposed that tachyonic particles could be made from excitations of a quantum field with imaginary mass. However, it was soon realized that Feinberg's model did not in fact allow for superluminal (faster-than-light) particles or signals and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dirac Delta Function
In mathematics, the Dirac delta distribution ( distribution), also known as the unit impulse, is a generalized function or distribution over the real numbers, whose value is zero everywhere except at zero, and whose integral over the entire real line is equal to one. The current understanding of the unit impulse is as a linear functional that maps every continuous function (e.g., f(x)) to its value at zero of its domain (f(0)), or as the weak limit of a sequence of bump functions (e.g., \delta(x) = \lim_ \frace^), which are zero over most of the real line, with a tall spike at the origin. Bump functions are thus sometimes called "approximate" or "nascent" delta distributions. The delta function was introduced by physicist Paul Dirac as a tool for the normalization of state vectors. It also has uses in probability theory and signal processing. Its validity was disputed until Laurent Schwartz developed the theory of distributions where it is defined as a linear form acting on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heaviside Step Function
The Heaviside step function, or the unit step function, usually denoted by or (but sometimes , or ), is a step function, named after Oliver Heaviside (1850–1925), the value of which is zero for negative arguments and one for positive arguments. It is an example of the general class of step functions, all of which can be represented as linear combinations of translations of this one. The function was originally developed in operational calculus for the solution of differential equations, where it represents a signal that switches on at a specified time and stays switched on indefinitely. Oliver Heaviside, who developed the operational calculus as a tool in the analysis of telegraphic communications, represented the function as . The Heaviside function may be defined as: * a piecewise function: H(x) := \begin 1, & x > 0 \\ 0, & x \le 0 \end * using the Iverson bracket notation: H(x) := 0.html" ;"title=">0">>0/math> * an indicator function: H(x) := \mathbf_=\mathbf 1_(x) * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Causality (physics)
Causality is the relationship between causes and effects. While causality is also a topic studied from the perspectives of philosophy and physics, it is operationalized so that causes of an event must be in the past light cone of the event and ultimately reducible to fundamental interactions. Similarly, a cause cannot have an effect outside its future light cone. As a physical concept In classical physics, an effect cannot occur ''before'' its cause which is why solutions such as the advanced time solutions of the Liénard–Wiechert potential are discarded as physically meaningless. In both Einstein's theory of special and general relativity, causality means that an effect cannot occur from a cause that is not in the back (past) light cone of that event. Similarly, a cause cannot have an effect outside its front (future) light cone. These restrictions are consistent with the constraint that mass and energy that act as causal influences cannot travel faster than the speed of li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spacetime Triangle Diagram Technique
In physics and mathematics, the spacetime triangle diagram (STTD) technique, also known as the Smirnov method of incomplete separation of variables, is the direct space-time domain method for electromagnetic and scalar wave motion. Basic stages # (Electromagnetics) The system of Maxwell's equations is reduced to a second-order PDE for the field components, or potentials, or their derivatives. # The spatial variables are separated using convenient expansions into series and/or integral transforms—except one that remains bounded with the time variable, resulting in a PDE of hyperbolic type. # The resulting hyperbolic PDE and the simultaneously transformed initial conditions compose a problem, which is solved using thRiemann–Volterra integral formula This yields the generic solution expressed via a double integral over a triangle domain in the bounded-coordinate—time space. Then this domain is replaced by a more complicated but smaller one, in which the integrant is essential ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
