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  2. Plane wave - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_wave

    Traveling plane wave. Often the term "plane wave" refers specifically to a traveling plane wave, whose evolution in time can be described as simple translation of the field at a constant wave speed along the direction perpendicular to the wavefronts. Such a field can be written as where is now a function of a single real parameter , that ...

  3. Wave equation - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_equation

    From the quadratic velocity term = (+) = can be seen that there are two waves travelling in opposite directions + and are possible, hence results the designation “two-way wave equation”. It can be shown for plane longitudinal wave propagation that the synthesis of two one-way wave equations leads to a general two-way wave equation.

  4. Poynting vector - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poynting_vector

    Scientists. v. t. e. In physics, the Poynting vector (or Umov–Poynting vector) represents the directional energy flux (the energy transfer per unit area, per unit time) or power flow of an electromagnetic field. The SI unit of the Poynting vector is the watt per square metre (W/m 2); kg/s 3 in base SI units.

  5. Phase velocity - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_velocity

    The phase velocity of a wave is the rate at which the wave propagates in any medium. This is the velocity at which the phase of any one frequency component of the wave travels. For such a component, any given phase of the wave (for example, the crest) will appear to travel at the phase velocity. The phase velocity is given in terms of the ...

  6. Group velocity - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_velocity

    The group velocity is positive (i.e., the envelope of the wave moves rightward), while the phase velocity is negative (i.e., the peaks and troughs move leftward). The group velocity of a wave is the velocity with which the overall envelope shape of the wave's amplitudes—known as the modulation or envelope of the wave—propagates through space.

  7. Dispersion relation - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispersion_relation

    In the physical sciences and electrical engineering, dispersion relations describe the effect of dispersion on the properties of waves in a medium. A dispersion relation relates the wavelength or wavenumber of a wave to its frequency. Given the dispersion relation, one can calculate the frequency-dependent phase velocity and group velocity of ...

  8. Intensity (physics) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intensity_(physics)

    Intensity (physics) In physics and many other areas of science and engineering the intensity or flux of radiant energy is the power transferred per unit area, where the area is measured on the plane perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the energy. [a] In the SI system, it has units watts per square metre (W/m 2), or kg ⋅ s −3 in ...

  9. Free particle - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_particle

    Free particle. In physics, a free particle is a particle that, in some sense, is not bound by an external force, or equivalently not in a region where its potential energy varies. In classical physics, this means the particle is present in a "field-free" space. In quantum mechanics, it means the particle is in a region of uniform potential ...