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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.

For an internal gravity wave ray at angle $\theta$ to the horizontal reflecting from a slope at angle $\alpha$, conservation of tangential wavenumber givesAt a subcritical internal-wave reflection, $\gamma >1$: the reflected wavelength shortens and its wavelength-averaged energy density increases by ${\gamma }^2$.

For a radial mode with constant nonzero wavenumber in an inviscid razor-thin disc, eliminate velocity using continuity and the conserved linearized vortensity. The resulting oscillator has ${\omega }_k^2={\kappa }^2+c_s^2{k}^2-2\pi G{\Sigma }_0|k|$. The vortensity gives a constant forcing and hence the stationary balanced component when ${\omega }_k^2>0$. It is lost by an ansatz that divides every amplitude equation by a nonzero frequency. Negative squared frequency gives exponential instability; zero frequency allows secular growth.

For fixed positive frequency and $n\ge 1$, the equatorial shallow-water dispersion relation has real zonal wavenumbers only ifBetween these values the zonal roots are complex, giving an evanescent response rather than freely propagating modes.

A stationary point in a non-monotone velocity profile can support a quarter-power critical layer whose phase-speed correction has positive imaginary part. The resulting normal mode grows at a rate proportional to the square root of the wavenumber. Such unbounded high-frequency amplification demonstrates linear instability of the frozen layer; nonlinear evolution and precise well-posedness consequences require separate analysis.

Short-wavelength corrugations on the underside of a highly viscous ice shelf relax through local Stokes flow. For a wavelength much smaller than the shelf thickness, the deformation occupies a depth of order the inverse wavenumber and the ice may be treated as a viscous half-space.

An interfacial gravity wave is a displacement of an interface between two fluids of different mass density, restored by buoyancy when the denser fluid is below. For two deep layers in the Boussinesq approximation, density difference $\delta \rho$ and horizontal wavenumber $k$ give intrinsic squared phase velocity $g\delta \rho /(2{\rho }_{0}k)$. Background flow shifts the laboratory phase velocity by its local speed.

At a step in buoyancy frequency without a jump in background mass density, vertical velocity and fluid pressure are continuous. For a fixed horizontal wavenumber and angular frequency, these are continuity of $W$ and $W^{\prime }$. They determine reflection and transmission between propagating internal gravity waves and evanescent waves.

Across a horizontal material interface with continuous background mass density but a velocity jump, an internal gravity wave preserves laboratory frequency and horizontal wavenumber. The matching conditions are continuity of displacement $w/\hat{\omega }$ and pressure, not continuity of $w$. For wave amplitudes and upward phase-line angles measured from the vertical ${\theta }_1,{\theta }_2$, define $r={\hat{\omega }}_2/{\hat{\omega }}_1$. Then the transmission coefficient isThe displacement condition is $A_i+A_r=A_t\cos {\theta }_2/(r\cos {\theta }_1)$, while pressure continuity gives $A_i-A_r=r{A}_t\sin {\theta }_2/\sin {\theta }_1$. Adding eliminates the reflected amplitude and gives the coefficient. It assumes nonzero intrinsic frequencies and propagating outgoing branches.

For inviscid plane Couette flow $U=z$ between impermeable walls at $z=\pm 1$, the nonzero real streamwise wavenumber $\alpha$ gives no nontrivial smooth discrete vertical-velocity modes. Instead, the vorticity variable $q=(D^2-{\alpha }^2)w$ obeys $({\partial }_t+i\alpha z)q=0$. Localized vorticity sheets give generalized eigenfunctions with real frequencies ${\omega }_{\xi }=\alpha \xi$. Their closure forms a neutral continuous spectrum.

For a homogeneous Keller--Segel model with nonnegative chemical production, linearized cell diffusion $D_2>0$, attraction coefficient $D_1>0$, and chemical diffusion $D_{\rho }>0$, put $c=\kappa -a_0{f}_0^{\prime }$ and $\kappa =(\rho k(\rho ){)}^{\prime }{|}_{{\rho }_0}$. A Fourier mode with squared wavenumber $z$ has determinant $z[D_2(c+D_{\rho }z)-D_1{f}_0]$. If $c\ge 0$, a growing mode on the infinite plane exists exactly when $D_1{f}_0>D_{2}c$, and $0<z<(D_1{f}_0-D_{2}c)/(D_2{D}_{\rho })$ is the unstable band. If $c<0$, the homogeneous chemical mode is already unstable. Dividing the threshold by $D_2\kappa$ to obtain a sum of two ratios is valid only when $\kappa >0$. Positivity of $k$ does not guarantee positivity of $(\rho k{)}^{\prime }$.

For a planar vortex sheet separating equal-density streams of velocities $U_1$ and $U_2$, a mode of nonzero wavenumber $k$ has complex growth exponentOne sign has positive growth rate, so every nonzero wavenumber is unstable in the inviscid zero-thickness model.

A reduced long-wave convection model can combine linear damping, destabilizing second derivatives, stabilizing fourth derivatives and gradient nonlinearities. In the displayed normalization the quadratic coefficient $s$ breaks Boussinesq symmetry, while the cubic gradient term dissipates the mean-square temperature. The linear dispersion relation is $\lambda (k)=-1+\mu k^2-k^4$, with critical wavenumber $k=1$ at $\mu =2$. Smoothness and spatial averaging hypotheses must be specified before applying the energy method on an infinite interval.

For $-5{\Omega }^2<N_r^2<3{\Omega }^2$ and a continuum of vertical wavenumbers, the growing branch of the radially stratified magnetorotational dispersion relation is maximized at $k^2{v}_A^2={\Omega }^2-(N_r^2+{\Omega }^2{)}^2/(16{\Omega }^2)$, with ${\sigma }_{\max }=(3{\Omega }^2-N_r^2)/(4\Omega )$. For $N_r^2\le -5{\Omega }^2$ the optimum moves to the $k\to 0$ boundary and the limiting rate is $\sqrt{-N_r^2-{\Omega }^2}$. For $N_r^2\ge 3{\Omega }^2$ there is no exponential instability. Boundaries that discretize the allowed wavenumbers can alter the actual maximum.

A nondispersive wave has constant phase velocity on a propagation branch. For $\omega =ck$, its group velocity is also $c$. A frequency relation with a nonzero offset, such as $\omega =ck+b$, has constant group velocity but a phase velocity $c+b/k$ depending on wavenumber; constant group velocity alone is therefore not sufficient for nondispersion.

The nonlinear wavenumber is the inverse scale at which linear density contrast fluctuations become of order unity. For the one-dimensional convention $⟨\delta (k)\delta (k^{\prime })⟩=2\pi {\delta }^{(D)}(k+k^{\prime })P_L(k)$, a usual estimate is $k_{\mathrm{NL}}{P}_L(k_{\mathrm{NL}})/\pi \sim 1$. Loop momenta above this scale require the effective field theory of large-scale structure even when external modes are perturbative.

For positive wavenumber $k$, the odd channel of the symmetric double-delta potential hasFor real $k$ its numerator and denominator are complex conjugates, making the channel unitary. Its poles are the zeros of $k{e}^{-ika}+U_0\sin (ka)$.

For $s=i\omega$, real-imaginary separation of the rotating-convection cubic givesThe curve is admissible only if ${\omega }^2>0$, so $P<1$ and sufficient rotation are necessary. A formal minimum with nonpositive angular frequency squared is not a Hopf bifurcation. At zero angular frequency this curve meets the stationary curve for that fixed wavenumber in a double-zero limit.