Passive acoustic impedance ($\mathrm{Re}Z\ge 0$)

With pressure amplitude $P=ZV$ and velocity $V$ directed into a boundary, the mean absorbed acoustic energy flux is $\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{Re}(P{V}^{\ast })=\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{Re}Z|V{|}^2$. A passive boundary cannot supply net energy, so $\mathrm{Re}Z\ge 0$ at a real frequency. Its reflection from a propagating acoustic plane wave has magnitude at most one. A pole continued to a complex incidence angle or frequency must be interpreted separately from real-frequency passive scattering.