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The wave equation is a second-order linear partial differential equation for the description of waves or standing wave fields 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.
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 Dirac equation is a relativistic wave equation detailing electromagnetic interactions. Dirac waves accounted for the fine details of the hydrogen spectrum in a completely rigorous way. The wave equation also implied the existence of a new form of matter, antimatter, previously unsuspected and unobserved and which was experimentally confirmed.
A simple wave is a flow in a region adjacent to a region of constant state. [1] In the language of Riemann invariant , the simple wave can also be defined as the zone where all but one of the Riemann invariants are constant in the region of interest, and consequently, a simple wave zone is covered by arcs of characteristics that are straight lines.
The Schrödinger equation is a partial differential equation that governs the wave function of a non-relativistic quantum-mechanical system. [1]: 1–2 Its discovery was a significant landmark in the development of quantum mechanics.
The Schrödinger equation determines how wave functions evolve over time, and a wave function behaves qualitatively like other waves, such as water waves or waves on a string, because the Schrödinger equation is mathematically a type of wave equation. This explains the name "wave function", and gives rise to wave–particle duality.
When the equation is applied to waves, k is known as the wave number. The Helmholtz equation has a variety of applications in physics and other sciences, including the wave equation, the diffusion equation, and the Schrödinger equation for a free particle. In optics, the Helmholtz equation is the wave equation for the electric field. [1]
The speed of propagation of a wave is equal to the wavelength divided by the period, or multiplied by the frequency: v = λ τ = λ f . {\displaystyle v={\frac {\lambda }{\tau }}=\lambda f.} If the length of the string is L {\displaystyle L} , the fundamental harmonic is the one produced by the vibration whose nodes are the two ends of the ...