Decay may refer to:

Science and technology

* Bit decay, in computing *

Software decay Software rot (bit rot, code rot, software erosion, software decay, or software entropy) is either a slow deterioration of software quality over time or its diminishing responsiveness that will eventually lead to software becoming faulty, unusabl ...

, in computing * Distance decay, in geography * Decay time (fall time), in electronics

Biology

* Decomposition of organic matter * Tooth decay (dental caries), in dentistry *

Mitochondrial decay A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the Cell (biology), cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and Fungus, fungi. Mitochondria have a double lipid bilayer, membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosi ...

, in genetics

Physics

Orbital decay Orbital decay is a gradual decrease of the distance between two orbiting bodies at their closest approach (the periapsis) over many orbital periods. These orbiting bodies can be a planet and its satellite, a star and any object orbiting it, or ...

, the process of prolonged reduction in the height of a satellite's orbit * Particle decay *

Radioactive decay Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...

Optical decay Optical decay is process of relaxation of excitation of an excited quantum system, usually due to the spontaneous emission of a photon or a phonon. Optical decay is dominant mechanism of quenching of excitation of active optical media. In solid-sta ...

, in quantum physics

Mathematics

Exponential decay A quantity is subject to exponential decay if it decreases at a rate proportional to its current value. Symbolically, this process can be expressed by the following differential equation, where is the quantity and (lambda) is a positive rate ...

Psychology and sociology

* Decay theory, in psychology and memory *

Social decay The word decadence, which at first meant simply "decline" in an abstract sense, is now most often used to refer to a perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, honor, discipline, or skill at governing among the members o ...

(decadence), in sociology * Urban decay, in sociology

Entertainment

Network decay Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

(channel drift), in television programming *

Decay (DC Comics) Decay is the name of three fictional characters owned by DC Comics. The first was an enemy of the pre-Crisis Supergirl, while the second appeared as a villain in the ''Wonder Woman'' comic book series. The third version appeared in the New 52 as ...

, a comic book character * '' Half-Life: Decay'', a 2001 video game add-on * Deekay, a Danish production team * Decay (professional wrestling), a professional wrestling stable in TNA Wrestling

Film

* ''Decay'' (2012 film), a 2012 zombie film set at the Large Hadron Collider * ''Decay'' (2015 film), a 2015 American film

Music

* how quickly the sound drops to the sustain level after the initial peak, see

ADSR envelope ADSR may refer to: * ADSR envelope (attack decay sustain release), a common type of music envelope * Accelerator-driven sub-critical reactor, a nuclear reactor using a particle accelerator to generate a fission reaction in a sub-critical assembly ...

* "Decay" (Ride song) * "Decay" (Biohazard song) * "Decay" (Sevendust song), 2013 * '' Decay Music'', 1976 music album by Michael Nyman * '' The Years of Decay'', music album by Overkill (band) * '' In Decay'', 2012 album by Com Truise

Other

* Beta decay (finance)