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Wave Operator
In special relativity, electromagnetism and wave theory, the d'Alembert operator (denoted by a box: \Box), also called the d'Alembertian, wave operator, box operator or sometimes quabla operator (''cf''. nabla symbol) is the Laplace operator of Minkowski space. The operator is named after French mathematician and physicist Jean le Rond d'Alembert. In Minkowski space, in standard coordinates , it has the form : \begin \Box & = \partial^\mu \partial_\mu = \eta^ \partial_\nu \partial_\mu = \frac \frac - \frac - \frac - \frac \\ & = \frac - \nabla^2 = \frac - \Delta ~~. \end Here \nabla^2 := \Delta is the 3-dimensional Laplacian and is the inverse Minkowski metric with :\eta_ = 1, \eta_ = \eta_ = \eta_ = -1, \eta_ = 0 for \mu \neq \nu. Note that the and summation indices range from 0 to 3: see Einstein notation. We have assumed units such that the speed of light = 1. (Some authors alternatively use the negative metric signature of , with \eta_ = -1,\; \eta_ = \eta_ = \ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Relativity
In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory regarding the relationship between space and time. In Albert Einstein's original treatment, the theory is based on two postulates: # The laws of physics are invariant (that is, identical) in all inertial frames of reference (that is, frames of reference with no acceleration). # The speed of light in vacuum is the same for all observers, regardless of the motion of the light source or the observer. Origins and significance Special relativity was originally proposed by Albert Einstein in a paper published on 26 September 1905 titled "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies".Albert Einstein (1905)''Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper'', ''Annalen der Physik'' 17: 891; English translatioOn the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodiesby George Barker Jeffery and Wilfrid Perrett (1923); Another English translation On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies by Megh Nad Saha (1920). The incompa ... [...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] |
One-way Wave Equation
A one-way wave equation is a first-order partial differential equation describing one wave traveling in a direction defined by the vector wave velocity. It contrasts with the second-order two-way wave equation describing a standing wavefield resulting from superposition of two waves in opposite directions. In the one-dimensional case, the one-way wave equation allows wave propagation to be calculated without the mathematical complication of solving a 2nd order differential equation. Due to the fact that in the last decades no 3D one-way wave equation could be found numerous approximation methods based on the 1D one-way wave equation are used for 3D seismic and other geophysical calculations, see also the section . One-dimensional case The scalar second-order (two-way) wave equation describing a standing wavefield can be written as: \frac - c^2 \frac = 0, where x is the coordinate, t is time, s=s(x,t) is the displacement, and c is the wave velocity. Due to the ambiguity in the d ... [...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] |
Ricci Calculus
In mathematics, Ricci calculus constitutes the rules of index notation and manipulation for tensors and tensor fields on a differentiable manifold, with or without a metric tensor or connection. It is also the modern name for what used to be called the absolute differential calculus (the foundation of tensor calculus), developed by Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro in 1887–1896, and subsequently popularized in a paper written with his pupil Tullio Levi-Civita in 1900. Jan Arnoldus Schouten developed the modern notation and formalism for this mathematical framework, and made contributions to the theory, during its applications to general relativity and differential geometry in the early twentieth century. A component of a tensor is a real number that is used as a coefficient of a basis element for the tensor space. The tensor is the sum of its components multiplied by their corresponding basis elements. Tensors and tensor fields can be expressed in terms of their components, and operatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Relativistic Heat Conduction
Relativistic heat conduction refers to the modelling of heat conduction (and similar diffusion processes) in a way compatible with special relativity. In special (and general) relativity, the usual heat equation for non-relativistic heat conduction must be modified, as it leads to faster-than-light signal propagation. Relativistic heat conduction, therefore, encompasses a set of models for heat propagation in continuous media (solids, fluids, gases) that are consistent with relativistic causality, namely the principle that an effect must be within the light-cone associated to its cause. Any reasonable relativistic model for heat conduction must also be stable, in the sense that differences in temperature propagate both slower than light and are damped over time (this stability property is intimately intertwined with relativistic causality). Parabolic model (non-relativistic) Heat conduction in a Newtonian context is modelled by the Fourier equation, namely a parabolic partia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
D'Alembert's Formula
In mathematics, and specifically partial differential equations (PDEs), d'Alembert's formula is the general solution to the one-dimensional wave equation u_(x,t) = c^2 u_(x,t) (where subscript indices indicate partial differentiation, using the d'Alembert operator, the PDE becomes: \Box u = 0). The solution depends on the initial conditions at t = 0: u(x, 0) and u_t(x, 0). It consists of separate terms for the initial conditions u(x,0) and u_t(x,0): u(x,t) = \frac\left[u(x-ct, 0) + u(x+ct, 0)\right] + \frac \int_^ u_t(\xi, 0) \, d\xi. It is named after the mathematician Jean le Rond d'Alembert, who derived it in 1747 as a solution to the problem of a String vibration, vibrating string. Details The method of characteristics, characteristics of the PDE are x \pm ct = \mathrm (where \pm sign states the two solutions to quadratic equation), so we can use the change of variables \mu = x + ct (for the positive solution) and \eta = x-ct (for the negative solution) to transform the PD ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four-gradient
In differential geometry, the four-gradient (or 4-gradient) \boldsymbol is the four-vector analogue of the gradient \vec from vector calculus. In special relativity and in quantum mechanics, the four-gradient is used to define the properties and relations between the various physical four-vectors and tensors. Notation This article uses the metric signature. SR and GR are abbreviations for special relativity and general relativity respectively. c indicates the speed of light in vacuum. \eta_ = \operatorname[1,-1,-1,-1] is the flat spacetime metric tensor, metric of SR. There are alternate ways of writing four-vector expressions in physics: * The four-vector style can be used: \mathbf \cdot \mathbf, which is typically more compact and can use vector notation, (such as the inner product "dot"), always using bold uppercase to represent the four-vector, and bold lowercase to represent 3-space vectors, e.g. \vec \cdot \vec. Most of the 3-space vector rules have analogues in four-ve ... [...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] |
Propagator
In quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, the propagator is a function that specifies the probability amplitude for a particle to travel from one place to another in a given period of time, or to travel with a certain energy and momentum. In Feynman diagrams, which serve to calculate the rate of collisions in quantum field theory, virtual particles contribute their propagator to the rate of the scattering event described by the respective diagram. These may also be viewed as the inverse of the wave operator appropriate to the particle, and are, therefore, often called ''(causal) Green's functions'' (called "''causal''" to distinguish it from the elliptic Laplacian Green's function). Non-relativistic propagators In non-relativistic quantum mechanics, the propagator gives the probability amplitude for a particle to travel from one spatial point (x') at one time (t') to another spatial point (x) at a later time (t). Consider a system with Hamiltonian . The Green's function (fu ... [...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] |
Green's Function
In mathematics, a Green's function is the impulse response of an inhomogeneous linear differential operator defined on a domain with specified initial conditions or boundary conditions. This means that if \operatorname is the linear differential operator, then * the Green's function G is the solution of the equation \operatorname G = \delta, where \delta is Dirac's delta function; * the solution of the initial-value problem \operatorname y = f is the convolution (G \ast f). Through the superposition principle, given a linear ordinary differential equation (ODE), \operatorname y = f, one can first solve \operatorname G = \delta_s, for each , and realizing that, since the source is a sum of delta functions, the solution is a sum of Green's functions as well, by linearity of . Green's functions are named after the British mathematician George Green, who first developed the concept in the 1820s. In the modern study of linear partial differential equations, Green's functions are s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
