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A pulse traveling through a string with fixed endpoints as modeled by the wave
equation.
Contents
1 Introduction
2 Wave equation in one space dimension
2.1 Derivation of the wave equation
2.1.1 From Hooke's law
2.1.2 Stress pulse in a bar
2.2 General solution
2.2.1 Algebraic approach
2.2.2 Plane wave eigenmodes
3 Scalar wave equation in three space dimensions
3.1 Spherical waves
3.1.1 Example
3.1.2 Monochromatic spherical wave
3.2 Solution of a general initial-value problem
4 Scalar wave equation in two space dimensions
5 Scalar wave equation in general dimension and Kirchhoff's formulae
5.1 Odd dimensions
5.2 Even dimensions
6 Problems with boundaries
6.1 One space dimension
6.1.1 The Sturm�Liouville formulation
6.1.2 Investigation by numerical methods
6.2 Several space dimensions
7 Inhomogeneous wave equation in one dimension
8 Other coordinate systems
9 Further generalizations
9.1 Elastic waves
9.2 Dispersion relation
10 See also
11 Notes
12 References
13 External links
Introduction
The wave equation is a partial differential equation that may constrain some scalar
function u = u (x1, x2, �, xn; t) of a time variable t and one or more spatial
variables x1, x2, � xn. The quantity u may be, for example, the pressure in a
liquid or gas, or the displacement, along some specific direction, of the particles
of a vibrating solid away from their resting positions. The equation is
Using the notations of Newtonian mechanics and vector calculus, the wave equation
can be written more compactly as
The wave equation alone does not specify a physical solution; a unique solution is
usually obtained by setting a problem with further conditions, such as initial
conditions, which prescribe the amplitude and phase of the wave. Another important
class of problems occurs in enclosed spaces specified by boundary conditions, for
which the solutions represent standing waves, or harmonics, analogous to the
harmonics of musical instruments.
French scientist Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert (b. 1717) discovered the wave
equation in one space dimension.[6]
The wave equation in one space dimension can be written as follows:
Another physical setting for derivation of the wave equation in one space dimension
utilizes Hooke's Law. In the theory of elasticity, Hooke's Law is an approximation
for certain materials, stating that the amount by which a material body is deformed
(the strain) is linearly related to the force causing the deformation (the stress).
Array of masses.svg
Here the dependent variable u(x) measures the distance from the equilibrium of the
mass situated at x, so that u(x) essentially measures the magnitude of a
disturbance (i.e. strain) that is traveling in an elastic material. The forces
exerted on the mass m at the location x + h are:
If the array of weights consists of N weights spaced evenly over the length L = Nh
of total mass M = Nm, and the total spring constant of the array K = k/N we can
write the above equation as:
General solution
Algebraic approach
The one-dimensional wave equation is unusual for a partial differential equation in
that a relatively simple general solution may be found. Defining new variables:[8]
Another way to arrive at this result is to note that the wave equation may be
"factored":
For an initial value problem, the arbitrary functions F and G can be determined to
satisfy initial conditions:
The basic wave equation is a linear differential equation and so it will adhere to
the superposition principle. This means that the net displacement caused by two or
more waves is the sum of the displacements which would have been caused by each
wave individually. In addition, the behavior of a wave can be analyzed by breaking
up the wave into components, e.g. the Fourier transform breaks up a wave into
sinusoidal components.
The total wave function for this eigenmode is then the linear combination
Eigenmodes are useful in constructing a full solution to the wave equation, because
each of them evolves in time trivially with the phase factor {\displaystyle e^{-
i\omega t}}e^{-i\omega t}. so that a full solution can be decomposed into an
eigenmode expansion
Swiss mathematician and physicist Leonhard Euler (b. 1707) discovered the wave
equation in three space dimensions.[6]
A solution of the initial-value problem for the wave equation in three space
dimensions can be obtained from the corresponding solution for a spherical wave.
The result can then be also used to obtain the same solution in two space
dimensions.
Spherical waves
The wave equation can be solved using the technique of separation of variables. To
obtain a solution with constant frequencies, let us first Fourier-transform the
wave equation in time as
Example
To gain a better understanding of the nature of these spherical waves, let us go
back and look at the case when l = 0. In this case, there is no angular dependence
and the amplitude depends only on the radial distance i.e. ?(r?,t) ? u(r, t). In
this case, the wave equation reduces to
For physical examples of non-spherical wave solutions to the 3D wave equation that
do possess angular dependence, see dipole radiation.
Monochromatic spherical wave
{\displaystyle u_{tt}=c^{2}\left(u_{xx}+u_{yy}\right).}{\displaystyle
u_{tt}=c^{2}\left(u_{xx}+u_{yy}\right).}
We can use the three-dimensional theory to solve this problem if we regard u as a
function in three dimensions that is independent of the third dimension. If
Odd dimensions
Assume n = 3 is an odd integer and g ? Cm+1(Rn), h ? Cm(Rn) for m = (n + 1)/2.
Let ?n = 1 � 3 � 5 � � � (n - 2) and let
Figure 1: Three consecutive mass points of the discrete model for a string
If each mass point has the mass m, the tension of the string is f, the separation
between the mass points is ?x and ui, i = 1, �, n are the offset of these n points
from their equilibrium points (i.e. their position on a straight line between the
two attachment points of the string) the vertical component of the force towards
point i + 1 is
(1)
(2)
Taking the sum of these two forces and dividing with the mass m one gets for the
vertical motion:
(4)
The wave equation is obtained by letting ?x ? 0 in which case ui(t) takes the form
u(x, t) where u(x, t) is continuous function of two variables,
��
ui
takes the form ?2u/?t2 and
(5)
and
{\displaystyle {\ddot {u}}_{n}={\left({\frac {c}{\Delta x}}\right)}^{2}\left(u_{n-
1}-2u_{n}\right)}{\displaystyle {\ddot {u}}_{n}={\left({\frac {c}{\Delta
x}}\right)}^{2}\left(u_{n-1}-2u_{n}\right)}
(6)
(7)
where c = vf/?.
If the string is approximated with 100 discrete mass points one gets the 100
coupled second order differential equations (5), (6) and (7) or equivalently 200
coupled first order differential equations.
Figure 2: The string at 6 consecutive epochs, the first (red) corresponding to the
initial time with the string in rest
Figure 3 displays the shape of the string at the times {\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}
{c}}k(0.05),\,k=6,\cdots ,11}{\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}{c}}k(0.05),\,k=6,\cdots ,
11}. The wave travels in direction right with the speed c=v f/? without being
actively constraint by the boundary conditions at the two extremes of the string.
The shape of the wave is constant, i.e. the curve is indeed of the form f(x - ct).
Figure 4 displays the shape of the string at the times {\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}
{c}}k(0.05),\,k=12,\cdots ,17}{\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}{c}}k(0.05),\,k=12,\cdots ,
17}. The constraint on the right extreme starts to interfere with the motion
preventing the wave to raise the end of the string.
Figure 5 displays the shape of the string at the times {\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}
{c}}k(0.05),\,k=18,\cdots ,23}{\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}{c}}k(0.05),\,k=18,\cdots ,
23} when the direction of motion is reversed. The red, green and blue curves are
the states at the times {\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}{c}}k(0.05),\,k=18,\cdots ,20}
{\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}{c}}k(0.05),\,k=18,\cdots ,20} while the 3 black curves
correspond to the states at times {\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}
{c}}k(0.05),\,k=21,\cdots ,23}{\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}{c}}k(0.05),\,k=21,\cdots ,
23} with the wave starting to move back towards left.
Figure 6 and figure 7 finally display the shape of the string at the times
{\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}{c}}k(0.05),\,k=24,\cdots ,29}{\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}
{c}}k(0.05),\,k=24,\cdots ,29} and {\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}
{c}}k(0.05),\,k=30,\cdots ,35}{\displaystyle {\tfrac {L}{c}}k(0.05),\,k=30,\cdots ,
35}. The wave now travels towards left and the constraints at the end points are
not active any more. When finally the other extreme of the string the direction
will again be reversed in a way similar to what is displayed in figure 6.
{\displaystyle u(x,0)=f(x)\,}u(x,0)=f(x) \,
{\displaystyle u_{t}(x,0)=g(x)\,}u_t(x,0)=g(x) \,
The function s(x, t) is often called the source function because in practice it
describes the effects of the sources of waves on the medium carrying them. Physical
examples of source functions include the force driving a wave on a string, or the
charge or current density in the Lorenz gauge of electromagnetism.
One method to solve the initial value problem (with the initial values as posed
above) is to take advantage of a special property of the wave equation in an odd
number of space dimensions, namely that its solutions respect causality. That is,
for any point (xi, ti), the value of u(xi, ti) depends only on the values of f(xi +
cti) and f(xi - cti) and the values of the function g(x) between (xi - cti) and (xi
+ cti). This can be seen in d'Alembert's formula, stated above, where these
quantities are the only ones that show up in it. Physically, if the maximum
propagation speed is c, then no part of the wave that can't propagate to a given
point by a given time can affect the amplitude at the same point and time.
In terms of finding a solution, this causality property means that for any given
point on the line being considered, the only area that needs to be considered is
the area encompassing all the points that could causally affect the point being
considered. Denote the area that casually affects point (xi, ti) as RC. Suppose we
integrate the inhomogeneous wave equation over this region.
For the other two sides of the region, it is worth noting that x � ct is a
constant, namely xi � cti, where the sign is chosen appropriately. Using this, we
can get the relation dx � cdt = 0, again choosing the right sign:
Further generalizations
Elastic waves
The elastic wave equation (also known as the Navier�Cauchy equation) in three
dimensions describes the propagation of waves in an isotropic homogeneous elastic
medium. Most solid materials are elastic, so this equation describes such phenomena
as seismic waves in the Earth and ultrasonic waves used to detect flaws in
materials. While linear, this equation has a more complex form than the equations
given above, as it must account for both longitudinal and transverse motion:
{\displaystyle \rho {\ddot {\mathbf {u} }}=\mathbf {f} +(\lambda +2\mu )\nabla
(\nabla \cdot \mathbf {u} )-\mu \nabla \times (\nabla \times \mathbf {u} )}
{\displaystyle \rho {\ddot {\mathbf {u} }}=\mathbf {f} +(\lambda +2\mu )\nabla
(\nabla \cdot \mathbf {u} )-\mu \nabla \times (\nabla \times \mathbf {u} )}
where:
? and � are the so-called Lam� parameters describing the elastic properties of the
medium,
? is the density,
f is the source function (driving force),
and u is the displacement vector.
By using ? � (? � u) = ?(? � u) - ? � ? u = ?(? � u) - ?u the elastic wave equation
can be rewritten into the more common form of the Navier�Cauchy equation.
Note that in the elastic wave equation, both force and displacement are vector
quantities. Thus, this equation is sometimes known as the vector wave equation. As
an aid to understanding, the reader will observe that if f and ? � u are set to
zero, this becomes (effectively) Maxwell's equation for the propagation of the
electric field E, which has only transverse waves.
Dispersion relation
In dispersive wave phenomena, the speed of wave propagation varies with the
wavelength of the wave, which is reflected by a dispersion relation
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