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A wavenumber–frequency diagram is a plot displaying the relationship between the wavenumber (spatial frequency) and the frequency (temporal frequency) of certain phenomena. Usually frequencies are placed on the vertical axis, while wavenumbers are placed on the horizontal axis.
In multidimensional systems, the wavenumber is the magnitude of the wave vector. The space of wave vectors is called reciprocal space. Wave numbers and wave vectors play an essential role in optics and the physics of wave scattering, such as X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, electron diffraction, and elementary particle physics.
As a wave, light is characterized by a velocity (the speed of light), wavelength, and frequency. As particles, light is a stream of photons. Each has an energy related to the frequency of the wave given by Planck's relation E = hf, where E is the energy of the photon, h is the Planck constant, 6.626 × 10 −34 J·s, and f is the frequency of ...
Here ψ is the angle between the path of the wave source and the direction of wave propagation (the wave vector k), and the circles represent wavefronts. Consider one of the phase circles of Fig.12.3 for a particular k , corresponding to the time t in the past, Fig.12.2.
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.
Other examples of mechanical waves are seismic waves, gravity waves, surface waves and string vibrations. In an electromagnetic wave (such as light), coupling between the electric and magnetic fields sustains propagation of waves involving these fields according to Maxwell's equations .
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The function s(x, t) is often called the source function because in practice it describes the effects of the sources of waves on the medium carrying them. Physical examples of source functions include the force driving a wave on a string, or the charge or current density in the Lorenz gauge of electromagnetism.