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An absolute wavenumber is a complex wavenumber at the selected zero-group velocity saddle of a dispersion relation. For the linear complex Ginzburg-Landau equation, $k_0=-U/[2(c_d-i)]$; the positive real part of the diffusion coefficient makes the Gaussian saddle accessible from the real Fourier contour.

The Alfvén frequency is the frequency of an Alfvén wave with wavevector $\mathbf{k}$ in a uniform magnetic field $\mathbf{B}$ and mass density $\rho$. For a vertical field and vertical wavenumber $k$, its square is ${\omega }_a^2=k^2{B}_z^2/({\mu }_0\rho )$. Its competition with orbital shear determines the ideal magnetorotational dispersion relation.

A horizontal-velocity perturbation depending only on height has zero vertical velocity for nonzero wavenumber under incompressibility. Its pressure amplitude then vanishes in the unstratified vertical momentum equation.

A moving boundary excites an internal gravity wave through its kinematic boundary condition. For wavenumber $k$ and angular frequency $\omega$, the vertical velocity field satisfies $W^{\prime \prime }+k^2(N^2/{\omega }^2-1)W=0$. The radiation condition selects outward group velocity; when $\omega >N$, the bounded response is an evanescent wave.

A normal mode of a uniformly bending elastic filament fixed in position and slope at both ends satisfies $W^{\prime \prime \prime \prime }=k^{4}W$. With $\beta =kL>0$, the allowed wavenumbers solve $\cos \beta \cosh \beta =1$. The first root is $4.730040745$ and ${\beta }_n=(n+\frac{1}{2})\pi +O(e^{-(n+1/2)\pi })$ for $n\ge 1$. The apparent root at zero is not an eigenfunction: the zero-eigenvalue cubic polynomial satisfying all four clamped boundary conditions is identically zero. This spectrum differs from that of a filament clamped only at one end.

A codimension-two bifurcation requires two independent parameter conditions to hold simultaneously. Simultaneous stationary and Hopf bifurcation thresholds require both kinds of critical mode in the reduced amplitude equation. A crossing of modes at different wavenumbers is different from a zero-frequency double-zero degeneration of one fixed-wave-number cubic.

Linearize around $A=R{e}^{iqX}$ and write $r=R^2>0$. For sideband wavenumber $l$, the sum and difference of the two amplitude sidebands, together with the field amplitude $b$, evolve underExpanding $\det (\lambda I-M_l)$ givesAt $l=0$, the eigenvalues are $-2r,0,0$; the field's constant mode must be removed if its mean is prescribed. Nonzero long-wave field modes are still dynamically active.

For stable density jumps in the three-layer stratified piecewise-linear shear flow, the upper interface's intrinsically left-going gravity-vorticity interface wave and the lower interface's intrinsically right-going wave have opposite laboratory phase velocities. They coincide at zero when $1+J=2\alpha$. At large wavenumber, interaction is of order $e^{-2\alpha }$ and the unstable band of a three-layer stratified shear flow has width $4\alpha e^{-2\alpha }+O(\alpha e^{-6\alpha })$ around this resonance.

A critical level is a height at which the intrinsic frequency of an internal gravity wave vanishes. For finite positive buoyancy frequency, its local vertical wavenumber diverges as $\hat{\omega }\to 0$. The inviscid Taylor–Goldstein equation is singular there; viscosity, diffusion or nonlinear wave breaking can regularize the resulting small scales.

Let ${\Sigma }_{d0}$ be the uniform background dust surface density of a disk and ${\delta }_d=({\Sigma }_d-{\Sigma }_{d0})/{\Sigma }_{d0}$ its fractional perturbation. Here $k$ is the radial wavenumber, $\Omega$ is the epicyclic frequency and $u$ is a real velocity amplitude. For that uniform background and late velocity $v_x=u\cos (kx-\Omega t)$, linear dust continuity equation gives ${\partial }_t{\delta }_d=-{\partial }_x{v}_x=ku\sin (kx-\Omega t)$. Integrating yields the displayed formula. The coherent travelling-wave fractional excess is $|ku|/\Omega$, with validity requiring this number much smaller than one. The static term $C(x)$ records initial density and transient displacement: drag damps velocity, but supplies no density diffusion. The long-wavelength gas wave has the same fractional density amplitude, so entrainment alone does not produce an additional dust-to-gas ratio enhancement at this order.

Detuning measures the small mismatch from a resonance condition. When the mismatch and nonlinear forcing are both $O(ϵ)$, they enter the same slow time equation. A small shift of the wavenumber can therefore balance a quadratic interaction and permit a locked periodic travelling wave.

The dimensionless spectrum is the contribution to a statistically isotropic field variance per logarithmic wavenumber interval: $⟨X^2⟩=\int d\log k{\Delta }_X(k)$, with any necessary smoothing or regulators. Some conventions denote this same quantity ${\Delta }_X^2$. The definition, not the superscript convention, fixes its meaning.

A dispersion diagram plots the branches of a dispersion relation, usually with wavenumber on the horizontal axis and angular frequency on the vertical axis. Its slopes, intersections, and gaps display group velocities, mode conversion, and forbidden frequency ranges.

A level where the squared vertical wavenumber of an internal gravity wave touches zero quadratically without changing sign. The ordinary WKB approximation fails there; unlike a simple sign-changing turning point, this does not itself provide an evanescent region on one side. Finite-wavelength analysis determines how solutions connect across or meet a boundary at the level.

For $r,\xi ,g>0$, longitudinal phase modulation of a detuned convection roll yields diffusion coefficient $D_{\varphi }=\xi (r-3\xi Q^2)/(r-\xi Q^2)$. The expression follows by eliminating the fast amplitude correction from the coupled linear amplitude-phase equations at small modulation wavenumber. Thus convection rolls become unstable for $Q^2>r/(3\xi )$ although they exist for $Q^2<r/\xi$. At the boundary the leading phase diffusion vanishes and higher spatial orders matter.

For a bounded source region and fixed positive wavenumber, expand $|R\mathbf{\theta }-{\mathbf{r}}^{\prime }|=R-\mathbf{\theta }\cdot {\mathbf{r}}^{\prime }+O(R^{-1})$. In the outgoing Green function for the three-dimensional Helmholtz equation, this gives $G=e^{ikR}{e}^{-ik\mathbf{\theta }\cdot {\mathbf{r}}^{\prime }}/(4\pi R)+O(R^{-2})$. Volume integration gives the outgoing field's far-field pattern with an $O(R^{-2})$ remainder. The estimate is an asymptotic statement for fixed source size and frequency.

With normal modes $e^{ikx-i\omega t}$, a finite upper bound on $\mathrm{Im}\omega$ allows the inverse temporal Laplace transform contour to start above all temporal singularities. An unbounded growth rate at high real wavenumber prevents the standard causal Green function construction used in the Briggs-Bers criterion. For $\mathrm{Im}\omega =\alpha k^2-\beta k^4-\gamma$ with nonzero real $\beta$, the bound holds exactly when $\beta >0$.

If the horizontal magnetic field perturbations vanish at $z=\pm H$, their allowed vertical wavenumbers are $k_m=m\pi /(2H)$, $m=1,2,\dots$. The lowest wavenumber is unstable exactly whenIf that magnetic mode is stable, all higher magnetic modes are stable as well. A weak field admits longer unstable wavelengths that fit inside the slab; sufficiently strong magnetic tension stabilizes every allowed wavelength.

A broad-spectrum stationary source below height $H$ first sends an upward packet there after $2H/U$, at $x=H$. This uses the maximum vertical group velocity $U/2$ at $\theta =\pi /4$. A source lacking the corresponding wavenumber has a later actual arrival.

For a thin plate with areal mass $m$ and bending stiffness $B$, small free transverse disturbances satisfy $m{\eta }_{tt}+B{\nabla }^4\eta =0$. A plane wave of tangential wavenumber $k$ therefore satisfiesThe frequency is quadratic in wavenumber, so these waves are dispersive. Matching this free-wave relation cancels the plate's inertial and bending response in an acoustic transmission problem.