Doubling constant Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-13
The doubling constant of a nonempty finite set in an abelian group is
It measures the cardinality of the sumset relative to the original set. For the integer examples, and . A nonconstant arithmetic progression with members has doubling constant , which stays below two as grows. This is the sense in which its sumset has small growth.
In any abelian group, : fixing puts a translated copy inside . The stronger integer bound gives only in that setting. A finite subgroup has , as does every coset , since its sumset is . In particular has doubling constant one.
Small doubling constant is useful because it constrains repeated growth, as in the Plünnecke-Ruzsa inequality. It signals structure such as arithmetic progressions and subgroups; precise descriptions depend on the ambient abelian group and are the subject of the Freiman-Ruzsa theorem. The additive energy bound below gives a simpler immediate consequence: .
Difference set Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-13
For finite sets in an abelian group , their difference set is
Here is the additive inverse in . The difference set records possible displacements from a member of to a member of ; it is distinct from the set difference .
For the integer sets and ,
The positive differences for are , each obtained once; reversing each ordered pair supplies the corresponding negative difference. Every nonempty finite set has , with representations . Swapping the members of an ordered pair also shows . In the cyclic group , the subgroup satisfies as well as .
Sumset Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-13
For finite sets in an abelian group , their sumset is
Each distinct value occurs only once in this set, even if many ordered pairs produce it. When , repetitions are allowed: belongs to . For the two integer sets introduced above,
For , the value comes from . For , two ordered pairs give the same sum only when one reverses the other, apart from a pair being identical to itself. Thus its four pairs and six pairs with distinct members, counted without regard to order, produce ten distinct sums.
Every nonempty finite set of integers satisfies . To see this, list its members as . The distinct sums
all belong to . A nonconstant arithmetic progression attains this bound. The ordered list is essential: in the cyclic group , the subgroup instead satisfies , of cardinality three. Addition wraps around, for example in this group.
Sum Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A sum combines a finite or infinite sequence of terms by repeated addition. The symbol denotes summation over an index.
Additive inverse Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
The additive inverse satisfies .
Acceleration of a freely falling sphere with added mass Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
A sphere of density falling in inviscid fluid of density has effective inertia and net weight . Hence
Phase-plane area formula for an action variable Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
The action is the area enclosed by a periodic phase-plane orbit divided by .
For a finite duct segment of phase length joined to a semi-infinite medium, continuity of pressure and velocity gives the outgoing potential amplitude
At half-integer , a large impedance mismatch can strongly enhance transmitted flux for a prescribed piston displacement.
Beltrami flow Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-13
Spurion Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
A spurion is a nondynamical background field assigned transformation properties so that couplings or symmetry-breaking parameters can be treated as if they arose from symmetry-covariant fields.
Supergravity Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Supergravity is a theory with local supersymmetry and necessarily contains gravity.
Soft supersymmetry breaking Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Soft supersymmetry breaking adds operators of positive mass dimension that break supersymmetry without reintroducing new ultraviolet quadratic divergences.
Four-dimensional N=1 supersymmetry Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-28
Four-dimensional supersymmetry has one Weyl-spinor supercharge and four real supercharges.
Gauge-gravity duality Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Gauge/gravity duality relates a quantum field theory without dynamical gravity to a gravitational or string theory in one additional emergent dimension.
Bosonic string theory Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Bosonic string theory quantizes a relativistic string using only bosonic worldsheet fields. Lorentz-invariant quantization requires 26-dimensional target spacetime and contains a tachyonic ground state.
Superfluid Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-18
A superfluid exhibits superfluidity, with phase stiffness and a phase-gradient current. In an appropriate ordered or quasi-ordered regime it supports low-speed flow without viscous dissipation, and its long-wavelength Goldstone boson has a sound-like dispersion. True thermodynamic phase selection and Bose-Einstein condensation need separate infrared conditions.
Quantum magnetism Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Quantum magnetism studies collective phases and excitations of interacting quantum spins.
Phase-space distribution function Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
A phase-space distribution function gives the occupation density of particles as a function of position and momentum. For a spatially homogeneous gas it depends only on momentum.
Critical phenomenon Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-13
A critical phenomenon is scale-invariant behavior near a continuous phase transition, described by universal critical exponents.
Ideal gas free energy Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Up to volume-independent terms, , so .

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