An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

Region in a → field of force in which the potential decreases abruptly, and in the surrounding region of which the potential is larger.

→ potential; → well.

1) The state or quality of being potential. Something potential.
2) According to Aristotle, what has the possibility of having → form, in contrast to → actuality; the power to effect change.

→ potential + → -ity.

With a possibility of becoming actual; possibly.

→ potential; → -ly.

An asteroid that could make a threatening close approach to the Earth. In technical terms a PHA is defined as having an → absolute magnitude of 22 or brighter and an → Earth Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance (MOID) of less than 0.05 → astronomical unit or 7.5 million km.

→ potentially; → hazardous; → asteroid.

The → electromagnetic potential at an instant in time and a point in space as a function of the charges and currents that existed at earlier times.

Retarded, adj. of → retard; → potential.

A measure of the energy level of a → thermodynamic system. It represents the amount of → work obtainable when the system undergoes a → change. The main types of thermodynamic potential are: → internal energy, → enthalpy, the → Helmholtz free energy, and the → Gibbs free energy.

→ thermodynamic; → potential.

The potential function that is associated with the strong, short-ranged force resulting from the exchange of massive particles between two → nucleons in the same atomic nucleus. The potential has the form of V(r) = C. (1/r) exp (-K.r), where r is the distance between the nucleons and C and K are constants, giving measures of the strength and range of the force respectively.

In honor of the Japanese physicist Hideki Yukawa (1907-1981), winner of the 1949 Nobel Prize in Physics; → potential.