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The phase velocity is the rate at which the phase of the wave propagates in space. The group velocity is the rate at which the wave envelope, i.e. the changes in amplitude, propagates. The wave envelope is the profile of the wave amplitudes; all transverse displacements are bound by the envelope profile.
The wave equation alone does not specify a physical solution; a unique solution is usually obtained by setting a problem with further conditions, such as initial conditions, which prescribe the amplitude and phase of the wave. Another important class of problems occurs in enclosed spaces specified by boundary conditions, for which the solutions ...
The characteristics of the PDE are = (where sign states the two solutions to quadratic equation), so we can use the change of variables = + (for the positive solution) and = (for the negative solution) to transform the PDE to =.
The two-dimensional analogue of the vibrating string is the vibrating membrane, with the edges clamped to be motionless. The Helmholtz equation was solved for many basic shapes in the 19th century: the rectangular membrane by Siméon Denis Poisson in 1829, the equilateral triangle by Gabriel Lamé in 1852, and the circular membrane by Alfred Clebsch in 1862.
The finite potential well problem is mathematically more complicated than the infinite particle-in-a-box problem as the wave function is not pinned to zero at the walls of the well. Instead, the wave function must satisfy more complicated mathematical boundary conditions as it is nonzero in regions outside the well.
Polarization of a gravitational wave is just like polarization of a light wave except that the polarizations of a gravitational wave are 45 degrees apart, as opposed to 90 degrees. [56] In particular, in a "cross"-polarized gravitational wave, h × , the effect on the test particles would be basically the same, but rotated by 45 degrees, as ...
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As a specific example, refer to the circularly polarized wave in the first animation. Using this convention, that wave is defined as right-handed because when one points one's right thumb in the same direction of the wave's propagation, the fingers of that hand curl in the same direction of the field's temporal rotation.