For dispersion relation with fixed , nonzero zonal wavenumber and stationary phase imply . Differentiating at fixed yields , which reduces to the displayed positive value for . Thus a stationary Rossby wave can transport energy eastward even though its crests stay fixed.
Stress-free convection growth-rate polynomial Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
For a fixed-temperature layer with stress-free boundary conditions, a vertical Fourier sine series has , where is horizontal wavenumber. The coupled vertical velocity and temperature amplitudes satisfy the displayed quadratic for their growth rate . Its roots are real for positive Rayleigh number, while both roots have negative real parts for negative Rayleigh number. Setting gives the free-slip convection neutral curve.
The equal-time two-point function of a de Sitter scalar has a contribution , giving the displayed dimensionless power spectrum per logarithmic wavenumber. At fixed comoving wavenumber it decreases as ; on short physical scales it reproduces the vacuum fluctuations of a massless scalar field in Minkowski spacetime. Its coincident integral is ultraviolet divergent, so the fixed-mode decrease cannot be interchanged with an unregulated integral over all modes.
Surface impedance of a good conductor Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
For a wave penetrating a nonmagnetic good conductor in the direction with time convention , its wavenumber is , with skin depth . If , Faraday's law of induction gives . Thus the field ratio is , equal to the displayed expression. Magnetic and electric fields have equal exponential penetration lengths but a phasor phase difference ; has the positive phase relative to in this convention.
Surface-tension-gradient stabilization of viscous fingering Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
Suppose the apparent capillary pressure is , with normal towards the displaced fluid and positive apparent tension at the flat front . Linearizing the Darcy law interface problem gives the local growth rate
The pressure increase experienced by a forward protrusion is stabilizing when . It suppresses every positive wavenumber when . For a fixed spatial gradient, makes the rate time dependent; constant exponential growth is a frozen-position approximation.
Survey window function 2026-10-14
A survey window function describes the finite spatial coverage and weights of a galaxy survey. Multiplication by this window in position space mixes Fourier modes by convolution in Fourier space. A dimension of extent cannot robustly measure wavelengths much larger than ; the fundamental wavenumber of a periodic box of that size is .
Taylor–Goldstein equation Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-09-29
The Taylor–Goldstein equation governs linear two-dimensional disturbances of an inviscid, vertically sheared, stably stratified parallel flow. For horizontal phase velocity , base velocity , buoyancy frequency , and horizontal wavenumber ,
Thermal diffusion rate of a Fourier mode Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-14
With thermal diffusivity , a Fourier mode of angular wavenumber decays at rate . To avoid confusing this with thermal conductivity, use and angular wavenumber below: the same rate is , with units .
Consider an insulated bar with constant thermal diffusivity, no sources and no heat flux through either end or the sides. An original initial temperature profile and its exact evolution are
The cosine has zero temperature gradient at both ends, satisfying the insulated Neumann boundary conditions. Its spatial mean is zero, so conservation of energy leaves the mean temperature unchanged while the nonuniform part disappears. A short derivation substitutes into the heat equation: the second spatial derivative supplies , hence . The exponential decay time is ; doubling angular wavenumber quarters this time. If cycles-per-length spatial frequency is used instead, and the rate is .
Figure 1.
Insulated-bar Fourier mode decay: equal thermal conductivity, different heat capacities
. Original constant-property model with and . The normalized initial temperature profile is identical for both stipulated materials in thermal diffusivity. The larger volumetric heat capacity gives a smaller thermal diffusivity and four times the decay time. Profiles at and amplitude histories are analytical predictions, not measured records. Details.
For the two model materials in thermal diffusivity and , and . After , the remaining amplitude fractions are approximately and . A narrow hot-and-cold pattern disappears faster than a broad one because its temperature curvature, and hence the imbalance in conductive heat flux, is larger.
Three-to-one spatially forced amplitude equation Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
A critical pattern Fourier mode transforms under a spatial translation as . A forcing at three times the critical wavenumber transforms as . Their lowest resonant product with phase weight one is . This determines the form of the leading weak-forcing amplitude equation, while projection onto an adjoint eigenfunction determines its coefficient. Symmetry permits this coupling but does not ensure that it is nonzero. Travelling forcing gives a time-dependent phase to .
Toomre marginal algebraic growth Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
At the marginal radial wavenumber, the forced axisymmetric density mode with vortensity has zero squared frequency. Its mass density amplitude is . Thus there is no exponential instability but nonzero conserved vortensity can force quadratic growth, and a homogeneous generalized mode can grow linearly. The spectral boundary of the Toomre stability criterion must not be mistaken for boundedness of every initial-value solution.
For an inviscid flow of constant mass density and depth , impose excess pressure with on a free surface. Neglect surface tension. A travelling solution of the linearized free-surface boundary conditions is
The velocity potential satisfies the Laplace equation and the bed no-penetration boundary condition. Its surface time derivative is , so the dynamic condition gives the displayed signed response. The nonnegative amplitude is . It is finite except at
the squared phase speed of a free surface gravity wave at that wavenumber. Equality produces resonance. This describes a travelling forced component; free surface gravity waves must be added to meet general initial conditions. At exact resonance, a solution of the initial value problem generally grows with time rather than having a bounded periodic amplitude.
A mode with squared wavenumber in the quadratic activator-inhibitor model has negative trace when . Its determinant is . A positive minimum location and a negative minimum require and , equivalent to . At onset, the double determinant root is . In a bounded domain an admissible nonzero spatial mode must additionally lie in the open negative-determinant band.
Turning height of a stationary wave in linear shear Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
For constant buoyancy frequency and with , a stationary component of horizontal wavenumber turns at if it propagates at the source. Its vertical wavenumber vanishes there; WKB approximation fails and an Airy function transition connects reflection to an upper evanescent wave.
A vertically propagating stationary topographic internal gravity wave meets a turning level when its squared vertical wavenumber changes from positive to negative. The stationary internal-wave WKB solution then fails locally. A simple zero is resolved by an Airy function transition connecting incident and reflected waves below to a decaying evanescent wave above. For negligible wind curvature the condition is , distinct from the zero-intrinsic-frequency critical layer in a shear flow.
For a nonrotating uniform-stratification fluid under the Boussinesq approximation driven at by a localized vertical-wall velocity, positive vertical wavenumbers radiate down and right and negative ones up and right. The real velocity separates into functions of and . Its in-phase component is half the imposed boundary profile on each beam; the quadrature component is its Hilbert transform partner. Thus compact localization at maximum boundary speed does not imply compact localization of all components at every phase. A finite-duration source contains several frequencies and spreads energy over their different ray angles and group speeds.
A monochromatic wave in vacuum has frequency and wavelength related by , where is the speed of light. During one oscillation period , a constant-wave phase surface travels one wavelength, so . Equivalently, the plane electromagnetic wave relation with angular frequency and wavenumber gives the same result.
As a calculated example, a vacuum radio wave with has using . Doubling frequency halves wavelength, independently of wave amplitude and wave intensity. The frequency spectrum of a pulse contains multiple frequencies; the relation applies to each vacuum component, rather than assigning one exact wavelength to the whole pulse. In a homogeneous medium replace by the appropriate phase velocity; the vacuum equation does not assert that all media have the same wavelength at a given frequency.
For in a slowly varying rigid duct, a real local transverse normal mode with squared norm has longitudinal wavenumber . The WKB approximation is . The moving-wall Neumann boundary condition and next-order solvability give , hence the displayed amplitude. For , for and for . The factor is essential when the coefficient in the divergence-form equation varies. This approximation requires a mode separated from cutoff and from other modes.
With weak kinematic viscosity , zero buoyancy diffusion and locally unchanged plane internal gravity wave polarization, the displacement pseudomomentum of an internal gravity wave obeys . For constant wavenumbers and a stationary wave envelope, proves the displayed amplitude decay. Decay is along the group velocity, so describes a source above the receiving level. In a slowly varying shear flow, use wave action and the changing intrinsic frequency rather than treating as constant.
Viscous attenuation of an internal-wave beam Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-14
When kinematic viscosity and mass diffusivity are equal to , a monochromatic internal-wave beam with wavenumber and ray angle has leading stream-function amplitude
The cubic dependence on makes slope-focused, short internal waves dissipate especially rapidly.
Viscous instability of an accretion disk Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-07
The negative-diffusion criterion for viscous disk instability is . A surface density enhancement then transports angular momentum less effectively and grows. Freezing the Keplerian viscous diffusion equation locally gives growth proportional to the square of radial wavenumber, within the thin-disc transport range; wavelengths must still be sufficiently long compared with the disk scale height for that closure. The formal short-wave limit is a backward heat equation.