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Article

Diffusion Waves and their Uses

AUG 01, 2000
Diffusion waves lack wave fronts, can’t be beamed, and don’t travel very far, yet they form the basis of several new and revolutionary measurement technologies.

The concept of waves is an integral part of our scientific culture and has nourished physicists, pure and applied alike, for centuries. Many important discoveries in physics, including quantum mechanics, have involved wave phenomena. The wave concept owes some of its scientific success to its mathematical tractability. Linear wave equations—the sort that describe the transmission of sound and radio waves through air—contain a nonzero second‐order time derivative, which gives rise mathematically to the rich and familiar array of properties we associate with waves, such as wavefront propagation, reflection, and refraction.

This article is only available in PDF format

More about the authors

Andreas Mandelis, University of Toronto's, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Canada.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 53, Number 8

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