Solar rotational mode splitting 2026-10-14
Slow stellar rotation breaks the azimuthal degeneracy of a stellar oscillation. First-order rotational frequency shifts are weighted integrals of the angular velocity with kernels computed from the unperturbed mode. Multiple radial orders and angular degrees provide overlapping constraints on internal rotation. Surface rotation alone cannot replace these internal measurements, and a finite kernel set does not give pointwise uniqueness.
Sonification 2026-10-24
Spark-excited damped oscillation 2026-10-18
A spark gap can rapidly discharge a charged capacitor through an inductor. After excitation, the stored energy runs down through Joule heating, radiation and other losses. A key held down can permit repeated discharges: each discharge starts a damped train of rapid oscillations. The spark repetition frequency, the electrical oscillation frequency within each train, and the rate of keyed symbols are different quantities. Repetition does not make each train a maintained sinusoid.
An original lumped model replaces the conducting spark gap and other losses by a constant total electrical resistance in an isolated series RLC circuit. For electric charge on the capacitor, the Kirchhoff cycle law givesFor , its characteristic roots are , with , proving the stated damped form. The electric current has the same exponential decay scale. Its wave envelope falls by per cycle; the energy envelope falls twice as fast in the exponent. A maintained sinusoid instead requires continuing input power balancing losses.
With , and , the model gives , Q factor , amplitude time constant , and damped frequency . These are chosen component values. A real spark gap switches nonlinearly, an antenna radiates, and coupling exchanges energy between circuits; one constant- free decay does not model the complete transmitter. Rapid damping also broadens the frequency spectrum, which helps explain why short trains make sharp receiver selection difficult.
Spatial aliasing 2026-10-25
Ambiguity between spatial oscillations sampled on a grid. At positions , the factors and agree for every integer . Spatial wavenumbers outside therefore cannot be distinguished without additional assumptions. For a traveling event of temporal frequency and apparent speed , the associated criterion is , with a margin for filtering. Temporal oversampling does not remove this spatial ambiguity.
Spatial frequency Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
Spatial frequency is the number of oscillation cycles per unit length. A ripple with spatial period has frequency ; its angular wavenumber is . In two dimensions the spatial-frequency vector specifies the orientation and period of a plane-wave pattern.
For an illustrative emission calculation, retain only the first-order shifts above and neglect the quadratic shift of the hydrogen atom ground state. The unperturbed Lyman-alpha line frequency is . The possible offsets areThe outer pair originates in the parts of and has transition electric dipole moments along the applied electric field, conventionally called components. The central pair originates in and has transverse rotating transition electric dipole moments, conventionally called components. Because electromagnetic radiation is transverse, the components disappear when viewed along the electric field. Viewed from the side, the and components have polarization of an electromagnetic wave respectively parallel and perpendicular to the applied electric field. Line intensities additionally require the initial quantum state populations and the collection geometry.
Spectral emissivity 2026-10-14
Spectral emissivity compares emission with an ideal blackbody at the same temperature at a specified wavelength, or frequency under a consistently transformed convention. A hemispherical spectral emissivity uses spectral radiant exitance; a directional spectral emissivity uses spectral radiance. Always state which angular convention applies. A wavelength-selective coating can emit strongly in one band while emitting weakly elsewhere, so one band measurement does not determine total hemispherical emissivity.
Spectral energy density 2026-10-25
Energy density per unit spectral coordinate, such as per frequency or per wavelength. Conservation of energy in corresponding bins requires ; therefore their peak positions need not map by .
Spectral energy distribution 2026-10-20
The distribution of received radiative flux or emitted luminosity across frequency or photon energy. Plotting against makes the area equal to the integrated radiative flux, since . A convention such as , or must be specified before comparing spectral slopes.
Spectral irradiance 2026-10-25
Incident radiant flux per unit area and unit wavelength or frequency. Integrating over a wavelength interval gives the contribution to irradiance in that interval. Conversion between and requires the absolute Jacobian determinant associated with , as for spectral radiance.
Spectral line profile 2026-10-24
A normalized spectral line profile distributes a transition's emission or absorption over frequency, with and units . Thermal motion, finite excited-state lifetime and collisions can give different contributions to the shape. Normalization lets an optically thin integrated line measure the relevant column density without requiring the detailed profile.
Spectral line strength 2026-10-24
The integrated absorption coefficient of an isolated spectral line is its line strength. For a mass coefficient write , where . The units of include the chosen spectral-coordinate unit; a strength integrated over wavenumber is not numerically interchangeable with one integrated over frequency. Changing normalized width at fixed strength redistributes opacity without changing its spectral integral.
Spectral luminous efficacy 2026-10-14
Spectral luminous efficacy converts radiant flux at one wavelength to luminous flux. The candela convention fixes exactly at , not at an exactly specified wavelength of . [ref]
In vacuum, that frequency corresponds to , using the speed of light. In standard air it is approximately , close to the maximum of the photopic luminous efficiency function. Thus is slightly larger than ; using in ordinary calculations is a rounded convention. The exact anchor is . [ref]
Spectral phase 2026-10-18
Spectral phase in pulse compression 2026-10-18
Use a complex envelope normalized so that ; its units are . The optical carrier convention is : the physical electric field is proportional to the real part of for a fixed transverse mode. With angular frequency offset , fix the Fourier transform conventionWrite with real . A dispersive element adds spectral phaseConstant phase rotates the envelope; the linear term delays it by . The group delay is . The quadratic coefficient is group delay dispersion, abbreviated GDD, with units of time squared. Positive GDD makes higher frequencies arrive later with this convention. It is accumulated dispersion of a component; material group velocity dispersion is its corresponding coefficient per unit length.
To undo a quadratic stretcher spectral phase, the compressor must supply opposite GDD. Include the amplifier and all intervening optics in the sum:Setting this sum to zero does not cancel third-order dispersion, , or still higher orders. Residual spectral phase can produce asymmetry and satellite pulses even when the quadratic term vanishes. A diffraction grating system can make path length depend on frequency; matching the complete spectral phase over the occupied spectrum is more demanding than merely choosing opposite quadratic coefficients.
There is a useful proof of what phase correction can accomplish. By Parseval's identity,For a smooth decaying spectrum, the Fourier transform of is . Consequently the power-weighted mean arrival time and variance obeyAt fixed spectral amplitude, constant group delay minimizes this root mean square duration. Such a pulse is a transform-limited pulse, up to a time shift and constant phase. The nonnegative second term measures temporal broadening from unequal arrival times; the first term remains even after perfect phase correction.
Spectral radiance 2026-10-14
Spectral radiance is radiance per unit frequency or wavelength interval. Its astronomical synonym specific intensity is usually written or ; this is a spectral radiance, distinct from the radiant intensity in radiometry. For positive small intervals,The two expressions refer to the same spectral slice, with the positive widths related through frequency and wavelength . For frequency measured in hertz, , the units are . For wavelength measured in metres, . Integrating over a spectral band gives its radiance, and then multiplying by the collecting projected area and accepted solid angle gives a small uniform beam's radiant flux. A spectral measurement therefore retains information that the band-integrated power alone loses.
For an ideal blackbody, Planck's law gives and at temperature , independent of outgoing direction. Its existing frequency and wavelength peaks of Planck's law illustrate why the coordinate matters. The simpler flat-band calculation below isolates that same change of variables without the thermal physics.
Spectral radiant exitance 2026-10-25
Radiant power leaving a surface per surface area and per unit frequency or wavelength. Isotropic cavity radiation obeys ; the factor combines the outward hemisphere and projected area.
Spectral radiant flux 2026-10-14
Spectral radiant flux resolves radiant flux by wavelength or frequency:Its units are per metre of wavelength or per hertz of frequency. A density quoted per nanometre must be integrated with wavelength intervals in nanometres; its numerical value is times the per-metre density. The frequency and wavelength spectral radiance conversion applies equally to spectral radiant flux, through the change of variables formula:with the speed of light in vacuum and expressed per metre. The Jacobian determinant preserves integrated power rather than the height or location of an optical spectrum's peak.
For two explicitly synthetic optical spectra, let and quote the following densities in :The triangle under and the rectangle under both have area : . Their band radiant fluxes differ: – contains of , while – contains of . These are specified functions, not measured source spectra.
The dark-subtracted electric current of a linear photodiode isusing its spectral responsivity. The figure's stipulated gives and despite equal total radiant flux. Symmetry places 's mean wavelength at and 's at ; a linear averages to its value at that mean. A single electric current therefore cannot determine an unknown broadband radiant flux without additional spectral information or a sufficiently flat calibrated response.
Spectrogram 2026-10-18
A spectrogram displays how a local frequency spectrum changes over time, usually using colour for squared Fourier transform magnitude. Longer analysis windows give finer frequency spacing while averaging over a longer time interval.
Spectroscopic wavenumber Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-18
A spectroscopic wavenumber commonly means the reciprocal of the vacuum wavelength of electromagnetic radiation, often in . It is an ordinary spatial frequency, so the vacuum angular wavenumber is . Specify vacuum or in-medium wavelength: the same frequency can have different wavelengths in different media. IUPAC's “wavenumber in medium” entry defines the in-medium reciprocal and notes that unqualified spectroscopic usage often means the vacuum reciprocal.[ref]
For example, a vacuum wavelength of corresponds to . Multiplication by gives . Converting centimetres to metres and converting cycles to radians are separate operations.

