Rayleigh may refer to:

Science

Rayleigh scattering Rayleigh scattering ( ), named after the 19th-century British physicist Lord Rayleigh (John William Strutt), is the predominantly elastic scattering of light or other electromagnetic radiation by particles much smaller than the wavelength of th ...

* Rayleigh–Jeans law *

Rayleigh wave Rayleigh waves are a type of surface acoustic wave that travel along the surface of solids. They can be produced in materials in many ways, such as by a localized impact or by piezo-electric transduction, and are frequently used in non-destructi ...

s *

Rayleigh (unit) The rayleigh is a unit of photon flux, used to measure faint light emitted in the sky, such as airglow and auroras. It was first proposed in 1956 by Donald M. Hunten, Franklin E. Roach, and Joseph W. Chamberlain. It is named for Robert Strutt, 4 ...

, a unit of photon flux named after the 4th Baron Rayleigh * Rayl, rayl or Rayleigh, two units of specific acoustic impedance and characteristic acoustic impedance, named after the 3rd Baron Rayleigh *Rayleigh criterion in angular resolution *

Rayleigh distribution In probability theory and statistics, the Rayleigh distribution is a continuous probability distribution for nonnegative-valued random variables. Up to rescaling, it coincides with the chi distribution with two degrees of freedom. The distribut ...

Rayleigh fading Rayleigh fading is a statistical model for the effect of a propagation environment on a radio signal, such as that used by wireless devices. Rayleigh fading models assume that the magnitude of a signal that has passed through such a transmission m ...

Rayleigh law The Rayleigh law describes the behavior of ferromagnetic materials at low fields. Ferromagnetic materials consist of magnetic domains. When a small external field H is applied, domains parallel to the external field start to grow. In this regi ...

on low-field magnetization *

Rayleigh length In optics and especially laser science, the Rayleigh length or Rayleigh range, z_\mathrm, is the distance along the propagation direction of a beam from the waist to the place where the area of the cross section is doubled. A related parameter ...

Rayleigh number In fluid mechanics, the Rayleigh number (, after Lord Rayleigh) for a fluid is a dimensionless number associated with buoyancy-driven flow, also known as free (or natural) convection. It characterises the fluid's flow regime: a value in a certai ...

, a dimensionless number for a fluid associated with buoyancy driven flow *

Rayleigh quotient In mathematics, the Rayleigh quotient () for a given complex Hermitian matrix ''M'' and nonzero vector ''x'' is defined as: R(M,x) = . For real matrices and vectors, the condition of being Hermitian reduces to that of being symmetric, and the co ...

Rayleigh–Ritz method The Rayleigh–Ritz method is a direct numerical method of approximating eigenvalues, originated in the context of solving physical boundary value problems and named after Lord Rayleigh and Walther Ritz. The name Rayleigh–Ritz is being debated ...

Plateau–Rayleigh instability The Plateau–Rayleigh instability, often just called the Rayleigh instability, explains why and how a falling stream of fluid breaks up into smaller packets with the same volume but less surface area. It is related to the Rayleigh–Taylor insta ...

explains why a falling stream of fluid breaks up into smaller packets *

Rayleigh–Taylor instability The Rayleigh–Taylor instability, or RT instability (after Lord Rayleigh and G. I. Taylor), is an instability of an interface between two fluids of different densities which occurs when the lighter fluid is pushing the heavier fluid. Drazin ( ...

an instability of an interface between two fluids

Title of nobility

Baron Rayleigh Baron Rayleigh, of Terling Place in the County of Essex is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The peerage was created on 18 July 1821 for Lady Charlotte Strutt, wife of Colonel Joseph Strutt, Member of Parliament for Maldon. Stru ...

Charlotte Mary Gertrude Strutt, 1st Baroness Rayleigh Charlotte Mary Gertrude Strutt, 1st Baroness Rayleigh (29 May 1758 – 13 September 1836), known as Lady Charlotte FitzGerald from 1758 to 1789 and as Lady Charlotte Strutt from 1789 to 1821, was a British peeress. Charlotte was the daughter of ...

John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, (; 12 November 1842 – 30 June 1919) was an English mathematician and physicist who made extensive contributions to science. He spent all of his academic career at the University of Cambridge. Amo ...

, physicist, winner of a Nobel Prize in 1904 **

Robert John Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleigh Robert John Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleigh (28 August 1875 – 13 December 1947) was a British peer and physicist. He discovered "active nitrogen" and was the first to distinguish the glow of the night sky. Early life and education Strutt was bo ...

, physicist; son of John William Strutt

Fictional name

Silvers Rayleigh The ''One Piece'' manga features an extensive cast of characters created by Eiichiro Oda. The series takes place in a fictional universe where vast numbers of pirates, soldiers, revolutionaries, and other adventurers fight each other, using var ...

, a fictional character in One Piece

Places

Rayleigh, British Columbia Rayleigh is a neighbourhood of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada along Highway 5 (the Yellowhead Highway). It is located on the east side of the North Thompson River The North Thompson River is the northern branch of the Thompson River, t ...

, Canada *

Rayleigh, Essex Rayleigh is a market town and civil parish in Essex, England; it is located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, east of central London. It had a population of 32,150 at the census in 2011. Toponymy The name ''Rayleigh'' is Old English in ...

, England *

Rayleigh (lunar crater) Rayleigh is a lunar impact crater, approximately 114 kilometers in diameter, that lies along the northeast limb of the Moon. This feature is seen edge-on from Earth, making it difficult to see much detail. In addition, libration effects can ...

Rayleigh (Martian crater) Rayleigh is an impact crater in the Mare Australe quadrangle of Mars, located at 75.6°S latitude and 240.9°W longitude. It measures approximately 126 kilometers in diameter and was named after English physicist Lord Rayleigh. The name was appro ...

Science

Title of nobility

Fictional name

Places

See also