Wave Definition and 999 Threads

  1. S

    Equation for the propagation of the crest of a wave

    I am not sure what is meant by "equation of propagation of crest" but this is my attempt: First, I find the velocity of wave: v = ω / k = 0.5 / 0.25 = 2 m/s Then I calculate wavelength: k = 2π / λ λ = 4 m I imagine the crests will move to the right along with the wave so I try to use equation...
  2. U

    When is the propagation of an EM wave not reversible?

    By reversibility, if we turn the direction of the light propagation by 180 degrees, then the new propagation path follows the old propagation path. I suspect that when there is diffraction, the light propagation is not reversible?
  3. Leonardo Bittar

    I Why do we observe an electron both as a wave and as a particle ?

    Maybe because when you don't observe it, the Schrödinger equation predicts the totality of interactions (paths) of the electron over an infinite time, all the paths it can take ( forming a wave like function ) which is actually all the paths the electron can take overlapped... and when u...
  4. Kaushik

    Reflection of a wave by a rigid boundary

    I found this on the internet. Source How does the crest reach the end of the medium? As the other end is fixed there is no way the crest can reach the interface. Isn't it? My book gave an alternative explanation. It stated that as there is no net displacement at the interface, we can use the...
  5. Kaushik

    B Understanding Laplace's Correction and the Adiabatic Process

    Laplace pointed out that the variation in pressure happens continuously and quickly. As it happens quickly, there is no time for heat exchange. This makes it adiabatic. But Newton believed it to be isothermal. Why isn't it isothermal but adiabatic? Why is there a change in temperature?
  6. jk22

    I Solving the Wave Equation via complex coordinates

    I'm looking for material about the following approach : If one suppose a function over complex numbers ##f(x+iy)## then ##\frac{df}{dz}=\frac{\partial f}{\partial x}\frac{1}{\frac{\partial z}{\partial x}}+\frac{\partial f}{\partial y}\frac{1}{\frac{\partial z}{\partial y}}=\frac{\partial...
  7. E

    Minimum frequency for a point to have maximum amplitude in standing wave

    When I tried using the equations the only thing I could see is that it is impossible for such point to be an anti-node. In this case, how do I find the frequency? The answer is not even with the form of v*n/2L which is very confusing to me, I thought that the frequency of a standing wave must...
  8. G

    Find the time-dependent wave function Ψ(x, t).

    I thought I could start somewhere along the lines of ##\psi(x,t)= \psi(x,0)e^{-iE_nt/\hbar}##, but I'm not sure what ##E_n## would be. I also thought about doing the steps listed below in the picture, but I'm not sure how to decompose ##\psi(x,0)## like it says to in the first step. Any help...
  9. S

    I Exploring 4D Wave Propagation in 3D Solids

    I am uncertain if this belongs in the differential geometry thread because I don't know what area of mathematics my question belongs into begin with, but of the math threads on physics forums, this one seems like the most likely to be relevant. I recently watched a video by PBS infinite series...
  10. B

    Traveling quantum Gaussian wave packet

    I tried plugging Psi into the right of the Schrodinger equation but can't get anything close to the solution or anything that is usable. How should I solve this?
  11. Jason-Li

    Comp Sci Fourier analysis & determination of Fourier Series

    ANY AND ALL HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED :smile: I have found old posts for this question however after reading through them several times I am having a hard time knowing where to start. I am happy with the sketch that the function is correctly drawn and is neither odd nor even. It's title is...
  12. H

    I Group of Wave Vector for k - Action of Space Group

    For a specific wave vector, ##k##, the group of wave vector is defined as all the space group operations that leave ##k## invariant or turn it into ##k+K_m## where ##K_m## is a reciprocal vector. How the translation parts of the space group, ##\tau##, can act on wave vector? Better to say, the...
  13. jk22

    I D'Alembert solution for the wave equation: question about the speeds

    The solution for the wave equation with initial conditions $$u(x,0)=f(x)$$ and $$u_t(x,0)=g(x)$$ Is given for example on wikipedia : $$u(x,t)=(f(x+ct)+f(x-ct)+1/c*\int_{x-ct}^{x+ct}g(s)ds)/2$$ So a vibrating string, since there is no conditions on ##g## (like ##\sqrt{1-g(x)^2/c^2}##), could...
  14. G

    What is the complex conjugate of this wave function?

    I was planning to find the value of N by taking the integral of φ*(x)φ(x)dx from -∞ to ∞ = 1. However, this wave function doesn't have a complex number so I'm not sure what φ*(x) is. I was thinking φ*(x) is exactly the same φ(x), but with x+x0 instead of x-x0. Thank you
  15. F

    I Macroscopic object wave function

    A composite object made of many atoms has a large mass hence a small de Broglie wavethength...and we know that recent experiments succeeded to obtain interference patterns even for such objects (for instance the C60 molecule). Did theoretician understood how a wavefunction with such a small...
  16. P

    I Collapse of the wave function under simultaneous measurement

    Considering Bell’s theorem and the expected correlations between entangled particles or photons. In a measurement setup e.g. Like Alain Aspect‘s with 2 entangled photons. If we could make a setup that guarantees that the measurement on both photons is done at exactly the same moment, what...
  17. Suppaman

    B Can We Generate Detectable Gravitational Waves in a Lab?

    By the time the gravity wave reaches us it is very small in energy, I assume. We do not know how to make gravity waves in a laboratory but we have a place where we have a very sensitive gravity wave detector. If we had a lab set up a few blocks away we might be able to do various experiments...
  18. karush

    MHB 2.3.361 AP Calculus Exam of differentials of sin wave

    image due to graph, I tried to duplicate this sin wave on desmos but was not able to. so with sin and cos it just switches to back and forth for the derivatives so thot a this could be done just by observation but doesn't the graph move by the transformations well anyway?
  19. Ammar2211

    A harmonic wave with a frequency and an amplitude

    For part (a), which generic function would be used? either y = f(x) = ASin(2πft + ϕ) or y(x,t)−y0=Asin(2πft±2πx/λ+ϕ) ?? Furthermore how to find out max. speed & max. acceleration of a point on the string?? Any directions please
  20. fisher garry

    Calculating the energy in an EM wave

    You don't have to read all this theory to answer my question. I added it just in case. Above they use the definition work energy theorem in vacuum to get to (8.12). Since it is in vacuum I would guess that one could use the equations for B and E field from EM-waves so that magnitude...
  21. JD_PM

    Deriving the wave equation using small perturbations

    Note that the wave equation we want to derive was introduced by Alfven in his 1942 paper (please see bottom link to check it out), but he did not include details on how to derive it. That's what we want to do next. Alright, writing the above equations we assumed that: $$\mu = 1 \ \ \ ; \ \ \...
  22. Uchida

    Does radiation pressure depend on the wave phase?

    Hello to all, Does radiation pressure depends on the wave phase of the electromagnetic wave hitting a surface? Or, can the radiation pressure be modeled as a sin/cos wave function, where force due to radiation pressure F = P/c would be the average over one cycle? (P = power, c = light speed...
  23. arcTomato

    Comp Sci Power spectrum when the wave number is not an integer

    Hi all. I made a program of DFT, so I made the power spectrum of a sin wave. This is the sin wave I used. All data number ##N=100## and the frequency of sine wave is 4.5Hz. And the power spectrum is this. The wave number is not integer so the spectrum has the side lobe. But I think this is...
  24. JD_PM

    Understanding how to apply the method of images to the wave equation

    Exercise statement Find the general solution for the wave equation ftt=v2fzzftt=v2fzz in the straight open magnetic field tube. Assume that the bottom boundary condition is fixed: there is no perturbation of the magnetic field at or below the photosphere. Solve means deriving the d’Alembert...
  25. DEvens

    I Wave function of a laser beam?

    Summary:: Wave function of a laser beam before it hits the diffraction grating So I'm reading "Foundations of Quantum Mechanics" by Travis Norsen. And I've just read Section 2.4 on diffraction and interference. And he derives a lovely formula for the wave function of a particle after it leaves...
  26. J

    B Photon Energy & Wave Amplitude

    A photon's energy is E=hv where v, the frequency, is a wave property. Particles don't have frequencies. But a wave's energy also depends on its amplitude. Where does this come into the energy relation?
  27. B

    I SXS Gravitational Wave Data: Initial Conditions Explained

    Hello! I need to do some analysis for a project with the SXS gravitational wave data: https://data.black-holes.org/waveforms/catalog.html but I am a bit confused about the initial conditions of their simulations. I read the paper they published about the data (it can be found at that website)...
  28. B

    Focused Acoustic Shock Wave Device for Generating High Pressures

    I am trying to come up with a design for a device that can generate very high and very brief waves of pressure directed at a 1 mm diameter target (shown as "E" in "Diagram.PNG") housed in a steel support structure "D". The idea is to accelerate hammer "A" towards anvil "B" in a vacuum tube. The...
  29. A

    Troubleshooting Wave Velocity on a Piano Wire

    angular frequency= 50 rad/s= 2*pi*frequency frequency= 7.96 Hz k=2*pi/wavelength k=2*pi/(2*1.6m) = 1.96 velocity=angular frequency/ k velocity=50/ 1.96 = 25.5 m/s For some reason this velocity is wrong
  30. ContagiousKnowledge

    General solution of the spherical wave equation

    Since the spherical wave equation is linear, the general solution is a summation of all normal modes. To find the particular solution for a given value of i, we can try using the method of separation of variables. $$ ψ(r,t)=R(r)T(t)ψ(r,t)=R(r)T(t) $$ Plug this separable solution into the...
  31. F

    Question about wave interference and coherence

    I have encountered the following definition of interference: Interference is a wave phenomenon in which two or more waves from coherent sources meet and superpose to form a resultant wave such that the amplitude of the resultant wave at any point is the vector sum of the amplitudes of the...
  32. A

    How Do You Calculate the Tension of a Cello String?

    wavelength of string= 2*L wavelength of string=2*0.70m= 1.4m velocity of string= frequency * wavelength velocity of string= 220Hz * 1.4m= 308 m/s tension= (308m/s)^2 * 0.00196 kg/m =186N Is the tension correct?
  33. HibyPrime

    B Gravitational wave emission from electrons

    Ok, so I've been on a kick trying to really understand why QM and GR are incompatible. I think I get that GR can't be realistically converted into a quantum field because it creates some infinite series that you can't use the normal tricks you would for other QM fields. Hard block, ok got it...
  34. F

    How does polarization show the wave nature of light?

    I'm a high school teacher. In the curriculum, students are required to explain that polarization of light shows that light is a transverse wave. My answer: In order to explain polarization, we have to consider the electric field vibration direction. For example, on a wave that propagates...
  35. K

    Waves: Calculate the sound intensity from two speakers

    Two similar speakers are connected to a stereo system that emits a signal of frequency 𝑓. However, the signal to speaker B is inverted so that positive voltage becomes negative (but with the same absolute value) and vice versa for negative voltages that become positive. A sound intensity meter...
  36. S

    Average speed of a probability density wave and wave packets

    Show that ##v_{av}=\frac{\hbar k_2 + \hbar k_1}{2m}## is equal to ##v_{av}=\frac{\omega_2 - \omega_1}{k_2-k_1}##. Which of the identities listed above (if any) would make the sign change between ##k_2## and ##k_1##? One can attain a "wave packet" by superposing two or more sinusoidal waves...
  37. A

    Why Can a Sound Wave Not Travel Faster than the Average Molecule Speed?

    I am having trouble understanding the following passage in my physics textbook, particularly the bolded sentence: "The speed of sound in a gas is closely related to the rms speed of the molecules of that gas. In a sound wave, the disturbance is passed from one molecule to another by...
  38. karush

    MHB 9.1.317 AP calculus exam multiple choice derivatives of sin wave

    ok just posted an image due to macros in the overleaf doc this of course looks like a sin or cos wave and flips back and forth by taking derivatives looks like a period of 12 and an amplitude of 3 so... but to start I was not able to duplicate this on desmos altho I think by observation alone...
  39. M

    I Did de Broglie contribute later to pilot wave theory?

    If I recall correctly it was in Adam Becker's book "What is Real?" where I read that late in life de Broglie took up again the pilot wave theory that he had introduced at Solvay in 1927 and that Bohm had done so much work on in the interim. Did de Broglie make any contributions to pilot wave...
  40. S

    A Calculating the Gravitational wave spectrum with Inflation as a source

    I am interested in knowing how to calculate the gravitational wave (GW) spectrum with inflation as a source, I have some background in inflation but I am not so familiar about calculating the GW spectrum. I am reading a paper (https://arxiv.org/abs/0804.3249) about it, however, a big part of it...
  41. arcTomato

    Engineering The power spectrum of a sine wave (C language)

    Hi I would like to Derive the power spectrum of sinusoid.I tried like this. But It doesn't work. <Moderator: CODE tags added> #include <stdio.h> #include <math.h> #define pi 3.1415926535 FILE *in_file, *out_file; int main() { dft(); } int dft(int argc, char *argv[]) { char...
  42. Z

    Can ultrasonic waves be stopped or mitigated?

    Summary: After use of Ultrasonic energy we need to mitigate the propagation of mechanical waves, need a solution to stop propagation or at least mitigate it. Hello Scientists, After use of Ultrasonic energy we need to mitigate the propagation of mechanical waves, need a solution to stop...
  43. S

    A Do acoustic phonons disappear in charge density wave states?

    In most standard exposition of (the mean-field theory of) charge density wave (CDW), phase and amplitude fluctuations are introduced as the collective excitations. Kohn anomaly in the acoustic phonon dispersion is also mentioned as temperature goes from the above till the CDW transition...
  44. I

    Is the Fabry-Perot Interference Dependent on Pulse Duration?

    I get that a single (optical) pulse is a superposition of continuous frequency components of its spectrum, but I'm a bit confused how Fabry-Perot interference can be interpreted in time domain. In a single-frequency explanation, the idea is that the incident wave goes through multiple...
  45. bubble-flow

    Oscillation of a particle inside water caused by a sound wave

    I don't really know where to start as this is not exactly my homework and I finished school some 15 years ago. I looked into my old high school notes, the last time I ever had anything about mechanical waves and sound. Unfortunately, we never learned anything about sound waves causing...
  46. Fdtroya

    Node Counting Circuit for Standing Wave Generator

    Summary: Make a circuit that counts the number of nodes in a standing wave generator I have a an assignment to complete this Term, the assignment consist in making a machine that would produce standing waves in various frequencies, (for example the typical motor connect to a string with...
  47. J

    Addition of Harmonics in a string wave

    In basic optics, we are given the general solution of the wave equation (massless string of length L) as a linear combination of normal modes, that need to have some of the permitted frequencies due to boundary conditions. In laboratory, we observed that phenomenon. We generated a wave in a...
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