Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In physics, angular frequency (symbol ω), also called angular speed and angular rate, is a scalar measure of the angle rate (the angle per unit time) or the temporal rate of change of the phase argument of a sinusoidal waveform or sine function (for example, in oscillations and waves). Angular frequency (or angular speed) is the magnitude of ...
In the physical sciences, the wavenumber (or wave number), also known as repetency, [1] is the spatial frequency of a wave, measured in cycles per unit distance (ordinary wavenumber) or radians per unit distance (angular wavenumber). [2][3][4] It is analogous to temporal frequency, which is defined as the number of wave cycles per unit time ...
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 ...
The wave vector and angular wave vector are related by a fixed constant of proportionality, 2 π radians per cycle. [a] It is common in several fields of physics to refer to the angular wave vector simply as the wave vector, in contrast to, for example, crystallography. [1] [2] It is also common to use the symbol k for whichever is in use.
A so-called eigenmode is a solution that oscillates in time with a well-defined constant angular frequency ω, so that the temporal part of the wave function takes the form e −iωt = cos(ωt) − i sin(ωt), and the amplitude is a function f(x) of the spatial variable x, giving a separation of variables for the wave function: (,) = ().
The simplest set of solutions to the wave equation result from assuming sinusoidal waveforms of a single frequency in separable form: (,) = {()} where i is the imaginary unit, ω = 2π f is the angular frequency in radians per second,
where ω is the wave's angular frequency (usually expressed in radians per second), and k is the angular wavenumber (usually expressed in radians per meter). The phase velocity is: v p = ω/k. The function ω(k), which gives ω as a function of k, is known as the dispersion relation.
On the other hand, in a frame of reference moving with the mean velocity U (so the mean velocity as observed from this reference frame is zero), the angular frequency is different. It is called the intrinsic angular frequency (or relative angular frequency), denoted σ. So in pure wave motion, with U = 0, both frequencies ω and σ are equal.