Single-phonon neutron scattering model 2026-10-18
Consider an original ideal one-dimensional monatomic harmonic oscillator chain with neighbor separation , mass and nearest-neighbor restoring coefficient . Its displacement equation isSubstitute the normal mode . Since ,Choose ångströms and . This is one acoustic phonon branch, distinct from the two-atom elastic example. It has and .
For coherent creation of one phonon in a crystal, the excitation's wave vector and the measured transfer obey , with a reciprocal lattice vector. To connect the dispersion relation to an illustrative intensity, take zero temperature, longitudinal displacements and the first interval , choosing . Expand the scattering phase to first order, . The constant term supplies elastic scattering; the linear term creates one phonon. Its displacement matrix element is proportional to , so the squared amplitude has weight , apart from common factors. Normalize this weight to one at :The limit follows from . Set and replace the ideal sharp line by a normalized Gaussian function:This chosen broadening illustrates readout width; it is not a measured resolution or a full spectrometer resolution function. Integrating over all gives . The small negative-energy tail is a broadening artifact, not a zero-temperature phonon-annihilation signal.
These panels separate three kinds of information: allowed reciprocal lattice positions, cancellation within a crystal basis structure factor, and an excitation's energy as a function of wave vector. The chain has no magnetic degrees of freedom, optical branches, damping or multi-phonon processes. It illustrates how one excitation could be read; it proves nothing about the completeness of a real material's excitation spectrum.
Spatially nonintegrable forcing in transport 2026-10-06
Smooth forcing need not be integrable in phase space. For the hyperbolic characteristic flow for an inverted oscillator, the source accumulates as . Its smallest quadratic-form eigenvalue is for . Starting with a nonnegative integrable Gaussian function, the solution is therefore unbounded and outside every finite Lp space at positive times. Locally time-integrable forcing prevents this failure by the Minkowski integral inequality.
The gradient vanishes only when and . On each tangent branch, increases strictly from negative to positive infinity, so it has exactly one root . With , the Hessian matrix is diagonal with entries and . Its determinant is positive, so every stationary point is a strict maximum when or a strict minimum when . Signs alternate between successive tangent branches. This gives infinitely many nondegenerate extrema under a decaying Gaussian function envelope.
Tails problem in collapse theories 2026-10-25
A Gaussian function used for localization is nonzero at every finite separation, so multiplying a wave function by it normally suppresses distant components without making them vanish. The interpretive question is how these residual, potentially structured components relate to definite macroscopic records. Exact compact localization and overwhelmingly concentrated matter are different claims.
Temporal optical coherence Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-18
Temporal optical coherence compares a field at one position with a delayed copy. In a Michelson interferometer, unequal round-trip lengths supply this delay. Even a source with rapidly changing wave phase can give high interferometric visibility close to zero delay, because both arms then deliver nearly the same source history. A source narrowed in optical spectrum generally retains correlation over larger delays; a single width does not describe sources with several separated lines. [ref]
https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/2-71-optics-spring-2009/bebe78c6a2ae2603a0d1a3ea85e0b4ca_MIT2_71S09_lec22.pdf. MIT 2.71/2.710, lecture 22, slides 2–5: temporal and spatial coherence
.For a stationary scalar field, choose the carrier convention , with frequency in cycles per second. Let be its spectral density per unit frequency, with . Its normalized field correlation is the Fourier transformThe optical spectrum weights the rotating contributions; a broad spread of frequencies allows them to cancel at short delays. This is the stationary field correlation–spectrum relation. The relevant spectrum is that of the optical field in the detected mode, rather than the low-frequency fluctuations of a detector's light intensity. [ref]
https://www.rp-photonics.com/optical_spectrum.html. Rüdiger Paschotta, RP Photonics Encyclopedia, Optical Spectrum: optical field spectrum and temporal coherence
.Here are two stipulated line profiles, each centered at with full width at half maximum . Write and use normalized profiles on the whole detuning line:The first is a Lorentzian, mathematically a Cauchy distribution; the second is a Gaussian function. Taking their Fourier transforms gives, with the carrier factor omitted from the magnitudes,These are calculated model results, not measured line profiles. The detuning approximation treats the narrow line as extending to arbitrarily large positive and negative ; for optical applications require . Exact spectra of the complex positive-frequency field have no negative absolute frequencies. Changing to angular frequency replaces by ; it must not silently preserve the same numerical constant.
Michelson interferometer geometry and calculated interferometric visibility versus delay for stipulated line profiles
. Details. Equal detected single-arm light intensities give interferometric visibility equal to the correlation magnitude. Doubling the Gaussian full width at half maximum from to halves every fixed-contrast delay. At the model gives Gaussian interferometric visibility approximately at and at ; the Lorentzian gives . The dashed curve instead keeps the Gaussian correlation and changes to , multiplying all interferometric visibilities by . Its lower contrast at zero delay therefore comes entirely from intensity imbalance.
Turbulent mixing-layer similarity equation 2026-10-25
For a planar turbulent mixing layer, let , , , , and . The stream function enforces mean incompressibility. Substitution into gives the displayed ordinary differential equation, with . When is small, its linear approximation is , so is a Gaussian function and an error function.
Uniform-sphere nuclear charge form factor Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
Consider an ideal nuclear charge distribution that is constant inside a ball of radius and zero outside:This is a deliberately sharp-edged model. Substitution into the spherical nuclear charge form factor gives, for ,At take the continuous limit . Direct radial integration gives , and the Taylor series provides an independent check:The first positive zero solves , equivalently , with . Consequently the first diffraction minimum moves toward smaller momentum transfer as increases.
For comparison, a smooth Gaussian function charge density with the same nuclear charge radius isThe Fourier transform of a Gaussian stays positive and has no zero. Both models have the same leading low- curvature, but they disagree at higher momentum transfer: at , the sphere gives and the Gaussian function gives . Measuring only a nuclear charge radius cannot distinguish these two nuclear charge distributions.
As a chosen scale illustration, take . The predicted first zero is , or using . With a ultrarelativistic electron beam and negligible nuclear recoil, it occurs at . These are consequences of chosen model parameters, not measured properties of carbon or a claim that all atomic nuclei are uniform balls.
Wave packet Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A wave packet is a localized superposition of Fourier modes. In a narrow packet, nearby wavenumbers interfere to produce a slowly varying wave envelope around a rapid carrier wave. Its leading translation is governed by group velocity; the carrier's wave phase follows phase velocity. Localized does not necessarily mean compact support: a Gaussian function decays rapidly but extends over the whole line. The Gaussian envelope in a Klein-Gordon medium gives an original example with both translation and spreading.


