Wave mechanics

The wave equation is an important second-order linear partial differential equation for the description of waves—as they occur in physics—such as sound waves, light waves and water waves.

In electromagnetics and communications engineering, the term waveguide may refer to any linear structure that conveys electromagnetic waves between its endpoints.

Acoustic waves are a type of longitudinal waves that propagate by means of adiabatic compression and decompression.

A wave farm – or wave power farm or wave energy park – is a collection of machines in the same location and used for the generation of wave power electricity.

In physics, a wave vector (also spelled wavevector) is a vector which helps describe a wave.

In physics, a standing wave – also known as a stationary wave – is a wave in a medium in which each point on the axis of the wave has an associated constant amplitude.

Non-sinusoidal waveforms are waveforms that are not pure sine waves.

In fluid dynamics, Airy wave theory (often referred to as linear wave theory) gives a linearised description of the propagation of gravity waves on the surface of a homogeneous fluid layer.

In physics, X-waves are localized solutions of the wave equation that travel at a constant velocity in a given direction.

The phase velocity of a wave is the rate at which the phase of the wave propagates in space.

A sine wave or sinusoid is a mathematical curve that describes a smooth repetitive oscillation.

Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time.

The group velocity of a wave is the velocity with which the overall shape of the waves' amplitudes—known as the modulation or envelope of the wave—propagates through space.

A transverse mode of electromagnetic radiation is a particular electromagnetic field pattern of radiation measured in a plane perpendicular (i.e., transverse) to the propagation direction of the beam.