This page gathers the 3,177 dictionary entries belonging to the domain “Physics”, as labelled by Wiktionary. Each word leads to its full entry: definitions, etymology, pronunciation, examples. Page 1 of 32: from “'t Hooft operator” to “alphabet soup”.
- 't Hooft operator noun A dual version of the Wilson loop in which the electromagnetic potential A is replaced by its electromagnetic dual Aᵐᵃᵍ, where the exterior…
- -ino suffix The fermionic supersymmetric partner of a boson (a bosino), symbolized by a tilde over the nonsupersymmetric particle symbol.
- -on suffix Forming nouns denoting subatomic particles and quanta.
- -onium suffix Designating an onium particle.
- -or suffix Appended to the names of members of classes of components, especially those that have an extensive property name of the same root suffixed…
- 0 noun The off or low bit state.
- a noun Angstrom.
- A.C. noun alternating current
- aa noun Initialism of angular aperture.
- ab- prefix Used in the names of certain units in the centimeter-gram-second system.
- Abbe refractometer noun An instrument used to measure the refractive index of a liquid, by utilizing the critical angle for total reflection.
- aberration noun The convergence to different foci, by a lens or mirror, of rays of light emanating from one and the same point, or the deviation of such…
- abfarad noun A unit of capacitance equal to one billion (10⁹) farads, used in the centimeter-gram-second system of units
- abhenry noun A unit of inductance equal to one billionth (1 x 10⁻⁹) of a henry, used in the centimeter-gram-second system of units.
- absolute adj Independent of arbitrary units of measurement, standards, or properties; not comparative or relative.
- absolute space noun The Newtonian concept of an unchanging and unchangeable reference system of spatial (and temporal) coordinates that is the same for all…
- absolute space-time noun The Newtonian concept of an unchanging and unchangeable reference system of time and spatial coordinates that is the same for all observers.
- absolute time noun The Newtonian concept of an unchanging and unchangeable reference system of time (and spatial) coordinates that is the same for all…
- absolute unit noun A unit of measurement that can be defined in terms of mass, length, and time.
- absolute zero noun The coldest possible temperature, equivalent to zero on the Kelvin scale, or approximately −273.15 °C, −459.67 °F; a total absence of heat…
- absorb verb To take in energy and convert it.
- absorbance noun A logarithmic measure of the amount of light that is absorbed when passing through a substance; the capacity of a substance to absorb light…
- absorbed dose noun The amount of energy imparted by nuclear (or ionizing) radiation to unit mass of absorbing material. Units of measure include the gray, the…
- absorbency noun The ratio of the absorbance or optical density of a substance to that of a similar body of pure solvent.
- absorptance noun Absorbed radiation and incident radiation in a ratio format; a measurement that shows how well a surface absorbs radiation.
- absorption noun the imbibing or reception by molecular or chemical action, of radiant energy; the process of being neutrons being absorbed by the nucleus…
- absorption cell noun A container, that allows light to pass through, used to store and study liquids and their optical absorption rate.
- absorption coefficient noun A measure of the absorption of electromagnetic radiation as it passes through a specific substance; the fraction of incident radiation…
- absorption dynamometer noun An instrument used to measure force, by measuring the energy absorbed via friction or electrical resistance.
- absorption line noun A spectral line that corresponds to the absorption of electromagnetic radiation at a specific wavelength; the pattern of such lines is…
- absorption spectrum noun The characteristic pattern of dark lines or bands that occurs when electromagnetic radiation is passed through an absorbing medium into a…
- absorptivity noun The fraction of radiation absorbed by a surface to the total radiation incident on the surface.
- abvolt noun A unit of electrical potential equal to one hundred millionth of a volt (10⁻⁸ volts), used in the centimeter-gram-second system of units.
- abwatt noun A unit of electrical power equal to one ten-millionth of a watt (10⁻⁷ watts), used in the centimeter-gram-second system of units.
- ac noun Alternative letter-case form of AC (“alternating current”).
- accelerate verb To cause a change of velocity.
- acceleration noun The change of velocity with respect to time (can include deceleration or changing direction).
- acceleration of freefall noun The constant acceleration experienced by an object falling solely under gravity, with no other forces such as air resistance acting on it.
- acceleration of gravity noun The acceleration of freely falling bodies under the influence of terrestrial gravity; 980.665 cm/sec², denoted g.
- accelerator noun A device that accelerates charged subatomic particles; a particle accelerator.
- accelerator mass spectrometry noun A form of mass spectrometry in which ions are accelerated to extraordinarily high kinetic energies before mass analysis.
- acceptance noun Synonym of etendue.
- acceptor noun A chemical acceptor atom forming a positive hole in a semiconductor
- accidental colour noun A colour depending on the hypersensibility of the retina of the eye for complementary colours. They are purely subjective sensations of…
- ace noun A quark.
- acentric factor noun A conceptual number, denoted by ω, useful in the description of fluids, derived from the reduced saturation vapor pressure and the reduced…
- achromat noun A lens that imparts little color; a lens that is achromatic.
- achromatic adj Free from color; transmitting light without color-related distortion.
- achromatic lens noun A lens generally composed of two separate lenses, one convex and one concave and generally of different materials, in such a way that the…
- achromatism noun The state or quality of being achromatic; achromaticity.
- acoustic traveltime noun The amount of time it takes for a signal to travel from a source through the Earth and return to a receiver.
- acoustics noun The science of sounds, teaching their nature, phenomena and laws.
- acoustomagnetic adj Describing a magnetic wave that resembles a sound wave
- acquisition time noun The amount of time required to acquire and convert a signal into a data record.
- across variable noun A variable whose value is determined by measuring a difference of the values at two extreme points of an element; thus voltage is a…
- ACRR noun adjacent-channel rejection ratio; the resulting measurement of comparing signal strength with a similar signal on another frequency if they…
- actino- prefix actinic radiation
- actinometer noun An instrument used to measure the heating power of electromagnetic radiation, especially that of solar radiation.
- actinon noun Radon-219 (21986Rn; symbol An), an isotope of radon
- action noun The product of energy and time, especially the product of the Lagrangian and time.
- action at a distance noun The concept that an object can be affected, changed, moved, or otherwise affected without being physically touched by another object.
- activate verb To render more reactive; excite.
- activation noun The process of making a radioisotope by bombarding a stable element with neutrons or protons.
- activation energy noun The energy required to initiate a reaction. For example, the flame from the fuse of a firecracker provides a small initial amount of…
- active noun Any component that is not passive. See Passivity (engineering).
- active front noun The boundary between two different air masses, or a portion thereof, which produces appreciable cloudiness and precipitation and is usually…
- activity noun The number of radioactive decays per unit time. Unit for it: becquerel or curie
- actuator noun A relay that controls the flow of electricity.
- adaptive optics noun An optical system in telescopes that reduces atmospheric distortion by dynamically measuring and correcting wavefront aberrations in real…
- adiabat noun The curve on a graph of pressure and temperature which gives the adiabatic heating or cooling of a gas.
- adiabatic adj Without gain or loss of heat (and thus with no change in entropy, in the quasistatic approximation).
- adinkra noun A graphical representation of supersymmetric algebras, consisting of coloured finite connected simple graphs that are bipartite and…
- adjusted flow time noun Of a well-test, a calculation of the cumulative well production since the last extended shut-in period, divided by the flowrate immediately…
- admittance noun The reciprocal of impedance.
- advection noun The transport of a scalar by bulk fluid motion.
- advection fog noun A type of fog caused by the passage of moist air horizontally over a relatively colder surface and the consequent cooling of that air to…
- adynamic adj Characterised by the absence of force.
- aeolotropic adj Pertaining to aeolotropy; of a body or substance, having physical properties (e.g., electric conductivity, refractive index) that depend on…
- aeolotropy noun The phenomenon whereby the physical properties (e.g., electric conductivity, refractive index) of a body depend on the direction in which…
- aeroacoustics noun A branch of acoustics that studies noise generation via either turbulent fluid motion or aerodynamic forces interacting with surfaces.
- aeroelasticity noun The scientific study of the effect of aerodynamic loads on structures.
- aeromechanics noun The branch of mechanics that deals with the motion of gases; it comprises aerostatics and aerodynamics
- aerosol noun A colloidal system in which the dispersed phase is composed of either solid or liquid particles and in which the dispersal medium is some…
- aerothermodynamics noun The scientific study of the thermodynamic properties of gases, especially when travelling at a high velocity.
- æther wave noun a quantum of light, a photon, an electromagnetic wave -- understood as being a disturbance in the æther, a substance believed to provide…
- afocal adj Not focused
- agyrotropy noun A broken cylindrical symmetry in the movement of electromagnetic radiation required for collisionless magnetic reconnection; a loss of…
- air cell noun An electrochemical cell that uses air as a terminal, such as the metal-air electrochemical cell.
- air mass noun a widespread body of air, the properties of which can be identified as: (a) having been established while that air was situated over a…
- air parcel noun An imaginary body of air to which may be assigned any or all of the basic dynamic and thermodynamic properties of atmospheric air. A parcel…
- airmass source region noun An extensive area of the Earth's surface over which bodies of air frequently remain for a sufficient time to acquire characteristic…
- Airy disk noun The bright central region of the diffraction pattern resulting from a uniformly illuminated circular aperture.
- albedo noun The fraction of incident light or radiation reflected by a surface or body, commonly expressed as a percentage.
- ALD noun Initialism of atomic layer deposition.
- aligner noun A system that produces integrated circuits by precision photolithography.
- alligator clip noun A spring-loaded metal clip, usually attached to a wire and used to create a temporary electrical connection.
- allobar noun Any form of an element having a different isotopic composition to that of the natural element, and thus a different atomic weight.
- allochromatic adj Having properties that are due to the presence of impurities, or to radiation damage
- alpha particle noun A doubly positively charged nucleus of a helium-4 atom (consisting of two protons and two neutrons), emitted as a consequence of…
- alphabet soup noun A physical state in which there is a miscellany of different particles, often designated by letters.