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 14 of 32: from “hydraulic jump” to “intermediate vector boson”.
- hydraulic jump noun A phenomenon where a high-velocity liquid flow abruptly slows down upon entering a zone of lower velocity, causing a sudden rise in the…
- hydrodynamic adj Of, or relating to the science of hydrodynamics.
- hydrodynamics noun The scientific study of liquids in motion.
- hydrogen burning noun The nucleosynthesis process, in stars of less than 1.2 solar mass, in which hydrogen is converted to helium, deuterium and some lithium.
- hydrogen line noun a spectral line of atomic hydrogen having a wavelength of about 21cm; used extensively in radio astronomy
- hydrogen spectral series noun Any of several series of spectral lines of hydrogen that correspond to quantum transitions between the various allowed energy levels of the…
- hydrogen spectrum noun all the lines in the emission or absorption spectrum of hydrogen; each one corresponding to an allowed transition between quantum energy…
- hydrophobic adj Lacking an affinity for water; unable to absorb or to be wetted by water.
- hydrostatic adj Of or relating to hydrostatics.
- hydrostatic equilibrium noun The condition in which the shape of a liquid body is in long-term (static) equilibrium under the forces acting on it.
- hyper- prefix existing in more than three spatial dimensions
- hypercharge noun Clipped compound of hyperonic charge: a quantum characteristic of a group of subatomic particles governed by the strong force that is…
- hyperchromic adj Describing an increase in the intensity of a spectral band due to a change in the molecular environment.
- hypercolor noun A hypothetical attractive force that binds prequarks together by the exchange of hypergluons, analogous to the exchange of gluons by the…
- hyperdeformed adj Very far from spherical and even more than superdeformed, forming an ellipsoid with axes in ratios of approximately 3:1:1 (as opposed to…
- hyperdiffusion noun Any form of diffusion whose mathematical representation contains orders greater than cubic.
- hyperelastic adj Describing an ideally elastic material for which the stress-strain relationship derives from a strain energy density function
- hyperfine structure noun a closely spaced structure of lines in the spectrum of an atom or molecule due to nuclear isotopic effects and/or to nuclear spin
- hyperfragment noun A very short-lived hyperonic fragment of a stable nuclide
- hyperheavy adj Having one or more isotopes that are much heavier than the normal one
- hyperhydrogen noun An atomic nucleus, an isotope of hydrogen which contains one proton and at least one uncharged lambda hyperon.
- hyperinnovation noun A state of many interconnected dimensions.
- hyperlens noun A nanostructured metamaterial that produces magnified images of objects smaller than the wavelength of the light used
- hyperon noun Any baryon (a three-quark particle) with a non-zero strangeness (i.e., whose composition includes one or more strange or anti-strange…
- hyperrelativistic adj Very close to the speed of light such that relativistic effects are considerable
- hypersoft adj Very soft
- hyperspectral adj Describing very high-definition spectral imaging.
- hyperstreamline noun A system of streamlines defined by the three principal eigenvectors of a symmetric second-order tensor
- hyperstress noun A four-dimensional equivalent of mechanical stress.
- hypersymmetry noun extended supersymmetry
- hypervirtual adj Pertaining to spin orbitals of the complementary subspace (orthogonal to all closed-shell orbitals and all virtual orbitals).
- hypochromic adj Describing a decrease in the intensity of a spectral band due to a change in the molecular environment
- ice noun Any frozen volatile chemical, such as ammonia or carbon dioxide.
- ideal gas noun a hypothetical gas, whose molecules exhibit no interaction, and undergo elastic collision with each other and with the walls of the…
- idioelectric adj electric by virtue of its own peculiar properties; capable of becoming electrified by friction
- ignition noun The phenomenon of a thermonuclear fusion reaction becoming self-sustaining and no longer requiring external heating.
- illuminance noun The luminous flux incident on unit area of a surface; commonly measured in lux (lumen/metre²) or otherwise foot-candles. The illuminance of…
- image noun The collection of focus points of light rays coming from a given object.
- immunisation noun The process of immunising signalling and traction power supplies so they don't interfere with each other.
- impedance noun A measure of the opposition to the flow of an alternating current in a circuit; the aggregation of its resistance, and inductive and…
- implantation noun The insertion of ions into the crystal structure of another material through ion bombardment.
- implementation noun A result of implementing something; a finished product, system or device.
- implicant noun On a Karnaugh map: a set of ones (whose quantity is a power of two) which are related by adjacency (i.e., the set is connected, if the…
- imponderable noun A substance or body, which is not ponderable, i.e., which not does not having a detectable amount of matter or measurable mass. An…
- improper time noun A time interval that is not measured in the standard units of seconds, often used in theories such as relativity to describe time in a…
- impulse noun The integral of force over time.
- in freefall prep_phrase In a motion solely influenced by gravity without air resistance.
- in series prep_phrase Of components: connected in a chain, instead of in parallel.
- in-plane switching noun A type of liquid crystal display (LCD) layered parallel between two glass pieces that is activated by an electric current to produce an…
- inactive adj Showing no optical activity in polarized light.
- incandescence noun the emission of visible light by a hot body
- incidence noun The striking of radiation or a projectile upon a surface.
- incidency noun Incidence.
- incident adj Falling on or striking a surface.
- incidental adj Entering or approaching, prior to reflection (more frequently incident).
- incoercible adj Not capable of being reduced to liquid form by pressure.
- incommensuration noun Incommensurate peaks in the spin fluctuation spectrum.
- incompressibility noun The bulk modulus or modulus of incompressibility, measured in either electron volts or dynes per square centimeter.
- indeterminism noun A case in which the uncertainty principle applies; a case in which certain pairs of physical properties such as the position and momentum…
- induce verb To cause or produce (electric current or a magnetic state) by a physical process of induction.
- inductance noun The property of an electric circuit by which a voltage is induced in it by a changing magnetic field.
- inducteous adj Rendered electropolar by induction, or brought into the opposite electrical state by the influence of inductive bodies.
- induction noun Generation of an electric current by a varying magnetic field.
- inductive adj Of, relating to, or arising from inductance.
- inductivity noun A measure of the capacity for magnetic inductance.
- inductor noun A passive device that introduces inductance into an electrical circuit.
- inert antineutrino noun A hypothetical antineutrino that interacts only very weakly or not at all with normal matter except through gravity.
- inertia noun The property of a body that resists any change to its uniform motion; equivalent to its mass.
- inertial frame of reference noun A frame of reference that is stationary relative to a body moving at constant velocity and on which no force is being exerted.
- inertial mass noun The mass of an object measured as its resistance to being accelerated by an applied force; it is equal to its gravitational mass.
- inertial reference noun An inertial frame of reference.
- inertial space noun A coordinate system (or a frame of reference) defined with respect to the distant stars, whose relative positions do not change over…
- inexact adj having a path-dependent integral
- inflector noun A device for bending a particle beam.
- influence noun Electrostatic induction.
- information engine noun A theoretical engine that converts information into energy for use in work, decreasing heat entropy in the process.
- information velocity noun The speed at which information is transmitted through a particular medium.
- infrared adj Relating to very low energies or very large distances or time spans.
- infrared radiation noun Electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength approximately between 1 micrometre and 1 millimetre; perceived as heat.
- initial condition noun In dynamical system, an initial condition is the value of a variable at a specific time, also known as a seed value.
- inlead verb To lead into; conduct.
- innermost stable circular orbit noun The closest radius at which a particle can maintain a stable, circular orbit around a massive, compact object, such as a black hole.
- input noun An input jack.
- instability noun A state that is not in equilibrium, or in which a small change has a large irreversible effect.
- instanton noun A solution to the imaginary time nonlinear field equation of Yang-Mills theory; carries information about quantum tunnelling.
- insulation noun a medium in which it is possible to maintain an electrical field with little supply of energy from additional sources.
- integration time noun Of an electronic system, the period of time in which a noisy signal is averaged so as to improve the signal-to-noise ratio.
- intensity noun Time-averaged energy flux (the ratio of average power to the area through which the power "flows"); irradiance.
- interaxis adj Pertaining to the perpendicularity (or deviation therefrom) of a set of resolver windings when another set of windings is excited.
- interband adj Describing a region between bands (magnetic, spectral etc)
- interconnect noun An interconnection.
- interface noun A thin layer or boundary between different substances or two phases of a single substance.
- interfere verb Of waves, to be correlated with each other when overlapped or superposed.
- interference noun An effect caused by the superposition of two systems of waves.
- interference pattern noun A series of light and dark bands that map out the way in which the phase difference between two waves varies in space.
- interferometer noun Any of several instruments that use the interference of waves to determine wavelengths and wave velocities, determine refractive indices…
- intergrain adj Between the grains of a magnetic material.
- interlace noun A technique of improving the picture quality of a video signal primarily on CRT devices without consuming extra bandwidth.
- intermediate switch noun A light switch with two pairs of two terminals, which can be switched between straight-through or swapped wiring. Typically used as part of…
- intermediate vector boson noun Any of the three fundamental particles (the two W-bosons and the Z-boson) that transmit the weak nuclear force and have a mass about 100…