The locus of midpoints between the two sides of a spectral-line profile at equal intensities. Variations with depth or time diagnose changes in line asymmetry; a null result has finite sensitivity.

In the absence of additional dephasing, a transition whose excited-state population has lifetime $T_1$ has a field-coherence decay time $2T_1$. Its Lorentzian line shape has angular-frequency half-width $1/(2T_1)$ and full width $1/T_1$. Population decay time, amplitude decay time and linewidth conventions must therefore be distinguished. Extra dephasing shortens the optical coherence time without necessarily changing the population lifetime.

The electron single-particle spectral function $A(\mathbf{k},ϵ)=-\mathrm{Im}{G}^R(\mathbf{k},ϵ)/\pi$, in a convention normalized to unit energy integral per orbital and spin, describes addition and removal energies. For the fermionic retarded Green function, $G^R(\mathbf{k},t)=-i\Theta (t)⟨\{c_{\mathbf{k}}(t),c_{\mathbf{k}}^{†}(0)\}⟩$, energy is referenced to the chemical potential. The occupied removal spectrum is $f(ϵ)A(\mathbf{k},ϵ)$, with Fermi-Dirac distribution $f$. In the noninteracting limit, $A$ is a delta peak at the band energy; interactions can shift, broaden, and redistribute its weight.

A normalized retarded amplitude $G^R(\mathbf{k},t)=-i\Theta (t)e^{-i{\Omega }_{\mathbf{k}}t-{\Gamma }_{\mathbf{k}}t}$, with constant ${\Gamma }_{\mathbf{k}}>0$, has Fourier transform $G^R(\mathbf{k},\omega )=(\omega -{\Omega }_{\mathbf{k}}+i{\Gamma }_{\mathbf{k}}{)}^{-1}$. Consequently $A=-\mathrm{Im}{G}^R/\pi$ is the displayed positive Lorentzian line shape, of unit frequency integral. Its maximum is at ${\Omega }_{\mathbf{k}}$ and its half width at half maximum is ${\Gamma }_{\mathbf{k}}$. The energy half-width is $\hslash {\Gamma }_{\mathbf{k}}$. Amplitude decays on time $1/{\Gamma }_{\mathbf{k}}$ whereas probability decays on time $1/(2{\Gamma }_{\mathbf{k}})$. A general interacting electron has quasiparticle residue $Z$ and incoherent spectral weight in addition to this normalized local pole model; frequency-dependent width or self-energy can invalidate a global Lorentzian.

The enantiomeric excess of an enantiomer pair is the magnitude of the difference between their relative mole fractions, $\mathrm{ee}=|x_{+}-x_{-}|$, often reported as a percentage. Here $x_{+}+x_{-}=1$ counts the pair only, excluding solvent; the signs label optical rotation under the specified conditions, not R and S configuration.

In the model above, $x_{+}=0.75$ and $x_{-}=0.25$ give $\mathrm{ee}=0.50=50\%$. Keep the same total pair concentration $c=0.200\mathrm{g}\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{L}}^{-1}$, path length, solvent, temperature and wavelength. The two contributions areThe $+8^{\circ }$ pure-member reference therefore gives $\alpha /{\alpha }_{\mathrm{pure},+}=+0.50$. This ratio measures signed population imbalance only for a pure pair with additive linear responses under matching conditions. Adding unrelated solutes, changing total concentration, or changing chemical equilibrium can invalidate that inference. For $x_{+}=x_{-}=0.50$, the racemate gives zero net optical rotation by cancellation; each molecule remains chiral. A zero reading alone proves neither a racemate nor molecular achirality.

Every real orthogonal two-by-two matrix of determinant one has the unique formIndeed the first column is a unit vector, the perpendicular second column has one of two signs, and positive determinant selects the displayed one. The map $z\mapsto R(z)$ from the circle group is bijective and satisfies $R(zw)=R(z)R(w)$ by direct multiplication, proving a group isomorphism. Writing $z=e^{i\theta }$ parametrizes these matrices as planar rotations, with the angle defined modulo $2\pi$.

For a solid of revolution formed by rotating $0\le y\le r(x)$ about the horizontal axis, with nonnegative continuous radius $r$ on $[a,b]$, each perpendicular slice is a disk of area $\pi r(x{)}^2$. Adding the slice volumes by a definite integral gives $V=\pi {\int }_a^{b}r(x{)}^{2}dx$. If the rotated region instead has inner and outer radii $0\le r(x)\le R(x)$, subtract the missing inner disks: $V=\pi {\int }_a^b[R(x{)}^2-r(x{)}^2]dx$. This is often called the washer method. A complete revolution is already included in the circular cross-sectional area, so no further factor of $2\pi$ belongs in the volume integral.

Consider a flat circular disk of radius $a>0$, with its center a perpendicular distance $d>0$ from the viewpoint $O$. The line from $O$ to its center is normal to the disk. Its rim defines a right circular cone with $\tan \theta =a/d$ and $\cos \theta =d/\sqrt{d^2+a^2}$. The solid angle of a circular cone immediately givesFor $a=d$, this is the same $45^{\circ }$ half-opening example: about $1.8403$ steradians. Both the radius and distance enter; doubling both leaves the solid angle unchanged.

A useful local version applies to a small surface patch of area $dA$, at distance $r$ from $O$. If $\psi$ is the angle between its unit normal and the line to $O$, its unsigned geometric contribution isThe numerator is the projected area. For a visible patch, perpendicular projection followed by radial projection onto a small piece of a sphere gives this formula. Integrating counts the directions once provided no direction encounters multiple counted patches. For an opaque detector, use its unoccluded face. At grazing view, the projected area tends to zero.

For this on-axis disk, a ring of radius $\rho$ has $r=\sqrt{d^2+{\rho }^2}$ and $|\cos \psi |=d/r$. Its polar coordinates gives $dA=\rho d\rho d\varphi$, so the same answer follows directly from the surface integral:The changing distance and obliquity are both already accounted for; an extra detector-wide cosine factor would count the projection twice.

For $d\gg a$, the Taylor series of $(1+a^2/d^2{)}^{-1/2}$ givesThus the accepted fraction of an ideal point emitter's isotropic output is approximately $A/(4\pi d^2)$, where $A=\pi a^2$. This is the geometry behind the inverse-square law for a small detector. At fixed $a$, however, taking $d\to 0^{+}$ gives $\Omega \to 2\pi$, so the accepted fraction approaches $1/2$ rather than diverging.

For a chosen numerical example, let $a=1\mathrm{cm}$ and $d=5\mathrm{cm}$. The exact solid angle is approximately $0.122015$ steradians, giving an acceptance fraction $0.00970966$. An ideal point emitter with isotropy and total radiant flux $1\mathrm{mW}$ would therefore send about $9.71\mu \mathrm{W}$ onto the disk. The distant-source approximation gives $10.0\mu \mathrm{W}$, about $3.0\%$ high. This calculation assumes unobstructed propagation and counts incident radiant flux; photon absorption, detector response, and any optical attenuator require separate factors.

A right circular cone with vertex $O$ selects all directions within a half-opening angle $\theta$ of its axis. Here $\theta$ is measured from the axis to a boundary direction, so the full opening in a meridian plane is $2\theta$. For $0\le \theta \le \pi$, interpret the selected directions as a spherical cap; for $\theta >\pi /2$, this is a region larger than a hemisphere.

The spherical coordinate system gives the area element $dA=R^2\sin \alpha d\alpha d\varphi$ on the sphere. Dividing by $R^2$ and integrating over the cap yieldsThe factor $\sin \alpha$ matters: a thin angular strip near a pole contains fewer directions than an equally wide strip near the equator. Treating equal intervals of both spherical coordinates as equal solid angles would overcount the polar directions.

At $\theta =45^{\circ }$, the solid angle is $\pi (2-\sqrt{2})\approx 1.8403$ steradians, or about $14.64\%$ of all directions. At $\theta =90^{\circ }$ it is $2\pi$ steradians, and at $180^{\circ }$ it is $4\pi$ steradians. For a small $\theta$ measured in radians, the Taylor series $\cos \theta =1-{\theta }^2/2+O({\theta }^4)$ gives the small-angle approximation $\Omega \approx \pi {\theta }^2$. Doubling a narrow half-opening angle therefore approximately quadruples its coverage.

A crystal is a solid with long-range spatial order in its constituents. In a periodic crystal, translation by a lattice vector reproduces the structure; a unit cell and its constituent arrangement describe the repeating pattern. The atomic structure is distinct from the visible external shape: an irregularly cut specimen can remain a single ordered crystal.

Diffraction probes that order because radiation scattered from many regularly arranged sites can reinforce at selected directions. The resulting pattern reveals structural spacings and orientation, rather than merely showing the specimen's outer faces. A single crystal maintains one coherent orientation across the specimen, while a polycrystalline material contains many crystal grains. Crystal orientation can make properties anisotropic, so a test along one direction need not predict response along another. Surface shape additionally depends on equilibrium surface free energy and growth kinetics.

The dynamic modulus is the complex stress-amplitude to strain-amplitude ratio in steady oscillatory response. With the convention $e^{i\omega t}$, the real part is the storage modulus and the imaginary part is the loss modulus. For $ϵ={ϵ}_0\cos \omega t$, $\sigma ={ϵ}_0(G^{\prime }\cos \omega t-G^{\prime \prime }\sin \omega t)$. The average supplied power is $\omega {ϵ}_0^2{G}^{\prime \prime }/2$, fixing the loss-sign convention. The elastic coefficient is a shear or extension modulus according to the deformation measured; it is unrelated to the complex modulus meaning absolute value of a complex number.

For a real skew-symmetric matrix $M$, $M^2$ is symmetric and $x^T{M}^{2}x=-\Vert Mx{\Vert }^2$. On an eigenspace with eigenvalue $-{\mu }^2<0$, every unit vector $u$ has unit partner $v=Mu/\mu$, orthogonal to $u$, with $Mu=\mu v$ and $Mv=-\mu u$. Its plane and its orthogonal complement are invariant under $M$. Repeating gives real orthogonal two-dimensional blocks $\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& -\mu \\ \mu & 0\end{array}\right)$ and a zero block. Thus every nonzero eigenvalue of $M^2$ has even multiplicity, the zero multiplicity has the parity of $n$, and the number of distinct eigenvalues is at most $n/2$ for even $n$ and $(n+1)/2$ for odd $n$. Distinct positive block parameters attain the bound, with one zero direction added when $n$ is odd.

A real skew-symmetric matrix is an orthogonal matrix exactly when its square is minus the identity matrix. Indeed, $B^{\mathsf{T}}B=-B^2$. Such a matrix can exist only in even dimension: taking determinants of $B^2=-I$ would otherwise give $(\det B{)}^2=-1$. In two dimensions every example isThese are rotation matrices through opposite right angles. Their orthogonal similarity transforms preserve eigenvalues, but do not in general produce a diagonal matrix.

Every real $2\times 2$ antisymmetric matrix has the form $A=sJ$, where $J=\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& 1\\ -1& 0\end{array}\right)$. Thus $A^2=-s^{2}I$, $\mathrm{tr}A=0$, and $\det A=s^2$. In particular,A convergent scalar power series applied to $A$ can therefore be reduced into an even scalar multiple of $I$ plus an odd scalar multiple of $A$. For real coefficients and $s\ne 0$, this is $f(A)=\mathrm{Re}f(is)I+[\mathrm{Im}f(is)/s]A$, provided the series converges at $\pm is$. Absolute convergence justifies separating even and odd terms. This converts many small matrix series problems into ordinary scalar series, without computing eigenvectors.

Let $B$ be an invertible matrix and $C$ a real square matrix of the same odd order. If the displayed identity holds, multiply it on the left by $B$ to obtain $B{B}^{\mathsf{T}}{C}^{\mathsf{T}}=-C$. Taking determinants givesThus $((\det B{)}^2+1)\det C=0$. Since $\det B$ is real, the first factor is positive, forcing $C$ to be a singular matrix. Both odd dimension and reality matter: an invertible real antisymmetric matrix exists in even dimension, while over the complex numbers a squared determinant can equal $-1$.

In the product basis $|m_1,m_2⟩$ for two spin-one particles, total magnetic quantum number zero allows only $|1,-1⟩$, $|0,0⟩$ and $|-1,1⟩$. Applying the total ladder operators to $\alpha |1,-1⟩+\beta |0,0⟩+\gamma |-1,1⟩$ givesA singlet state is annihilated by $S_{+}$ and $S_{-}$, so $\alpha =\gamma =-\beta$. Wavefunction normalization gives the displayed state, up to an overall phase. Here the ket on the left of the title formula has total-spin labels, while its right-hand kets have individual magnetic labels. The state is symmetric under exchanging the particles, although no exchange constraint is needed for distinguishable particles.

A barycentric coordinate system assigns to a point in the affine span of the vertices of a nondegenerate simplex its unique vertex weights ${\lambda }_0,\dots ,{\lambda }_d$, constrained to sum to one. Uniqueness follows because $v_1-v_0,\dots ,v_d-v_0$ form a basis of the translation space: expand $x-v_0$ in that basis and set ${\lambda }_0=1-{\sum }_{i=1}^d{\lambda }_i$. A point lies in the closed simplex exactly when every weight is nonnegative. An affine function satisfies $f(x)={\sum }_i{\lambda }_{i}f(v_i)$, which makes these coordinates useful for interpolation and the integral of an affine function over a simplex.

A point mass constrained to a straight guide through the axis of a uniformly rotating reference frame, with signed central displacement $x$ and Hooke's law force $-kx$, satisfies $m\ddot{x}=-kx+m{\Omega }^{2}x$. The transverse Coriolis force is balanced by the guide. The central equilibrium is stable for ${\Omega }^2<k/m$ and unstable above it. At equality the restoring coefficient vanishes and $x(t)=x_0+v_{0}t$: a small initial velocity causes unbounded drift in the ideal guide. The threshold therefore has no positive oscillation frequency. The angular frequency is the positive square root in the title.

For $x^{\prime \prime }+{\omega }_0^{2}x=F$ during $0<t<T$ and zero force afterwards, with zero initial displacement and velocity, the causal Green function gives $x(t)=F[1-\cos ({\omega }_{0}t)]/{\omega }_0^2$ during the pulse. For $t\ge T$ it gives $x(t)=F[\cos ({\omega }_0(t-T))-\cos ({\omega }_{0}t)]/{\omega }_0^2$. For $F\ne 0$, both outgoing displacement and velocity vanish precisely when $T$ is an integer number of full natural periods. Cancellation requires both initial data for the subsequent homogeneous equation, not only zero displacement at switch-off.

The SRP receptor receives the SRP–ribosome–nascent chain complex for handoff to the translocon.^[ref]