- #1
roam
- 1,271
- 12
- TL;DR Summary
- I am trying to understand whether the period of a composite wave relates to the relative phases or the number of the constituent waves.
I am working with a simulation which generates multiple identical functions that overlap differently (i.e., they are generated with randomly different phases from each other).
When I calculate the composite wave, the shape of the combined wave will differ depending on the relative phases of the input waves. But regardless of how the waves overlap, the "effective period" of the combined wave seems to remain the same. Why is that? What would be an analytic expression that explains this phenomenon?
For instance, this is the simulation using three waves (the thicker line is their sum):
In addition, if we increase the number of waves, the temporal period of the combined wave will still remain constant. Why?
Here is an example:
Any explanations would be appreciated.
When I calculate the composite wave, the shape of the combined wave will differ depending on the relative phases of the input waves. But regardless of how the waves overlap, the "effective period" of the combined wave seems to remain the same. Why is that? What would be an analytic expression that explains this phenomenon?
For instance, this is the simulation using three waves (the thicker line is their sum):
In addition, if we increase the number of waves, the temporal period of the combined wave will still remain constant. Why?
Here is an example:
Any explanations would be appreciated.