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

The branch of physics that deals with the smallest known structures of matter and energy in order to understand the fundamental particles and forces of nature.

→ particle; → physics.

A branch of linguistics dealing with the analysis, description, and classification of speech sounds. More specifically, phonetics deals with the physical production of → phonemes regardless of language, while → phonology studies how those sounds are put together to create meaningful words in a particular language.

From phonetic, from N.L. phoneticus, from Gk. phonetikos "vocal," from phonet(os) "utterable," verbal adj. of phonein "to speak clearly, utter," from → phone + -ikos, → -ics.

Âvâyik, from âvâ, → phone, + -ik, → -ics.

The branch of medical science dealing with the study and treatment of voice disorders.

From Gk. phon-, → phone; → -iatrics.

The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems.

→ photon + → -ics.

The branch of optics concerned with the wave properties of light, → diffraction, → polarization, and other phenomena for which the ray approximation of → geometric optics is not valid. Also called → wave optics.

→ physical; → optics.

The science that deals with matter and energy and their interactions.

M.E. fisyk(e), phisik(e), from O.Fr. fisique, from L. physica (fem. sing.) "study of nature," from Gk. physike episteme "knowledge of nature," from fem. of physikos "pertaining to nature," from physis "nature," from phyein "to bring forth, produce, make to grow," Gk. phy- "to become;" L. fui "I was," futurus "that is to be, future;" Ger. present first and second person sing. bin, bist; E. to be; O.Ir. bi'u "I am;" Lith. bu'ti "to be;" Rus. byt' "to be."

Loan from Fr. physique, as above.

The study of the structure, composition, as well as physical and chemical properties of the planets of the solar system, including their atmospheres and their immediate cosmic environment.

→ planetary; → physics.

The study of the physical properties of the various forms of plasmas and their processing.

→ plasma; → physics.

The research area dealing with the interaction of → plasmons and → photons and the technology of its practical use. Plasmonics represents one of the most active research fields at the interface of → nanotechnology and → optics.

→ plasmon; → -ics.

The theory supported by a wide range of evidence in which the Earth's crust is composed of several large, thin, relatively rigid plates that move relative to one another. The interaction of the plates at their boundaries causes seismic and tectonic activity along these boundaries. See also → continental drift.

→ plate; → tectonics.

1) The science or art of → political  → government.
2) The practice or profession of conducting political affairs.
3) Political → principles or → opinions (Dictionary.com).

From adj. → politic modeled on Aristotle's ta politika "affairs of state," the name of his book on governing and governments; → -ics.

Kârâhik, from kârâh, → policy, + -ik, → -ics.

A branch of → semiotics dealing with the relation between language and the users, especially the constraints they encounter in using language in social interaction, and the corresponding effects on other users in the communication.

→ pragmatic; → -ics.

The → quantum field theory that deals with the → strong interaction and the structure of elementary particles in the framework of → quantum theory. The cohesive attraction between the → quarks, that constitute → hadrons, involves the participation of three particles. Each of these particles is assigned a different → color "charge." The existence of these "charges" requires a multiplicity of different messenger particles to communicate the interaction and glue the quarks together. These messengers are called → gluons and there are eight different types.

→ quantum; → chromodynamics

The → quantum field theory that describes the properties of → electromagnetic radiation and its interaction with electrically charged matter in the framework of → quantum theory.

→ quantum; → electrodynamics.

A development of Newtonian mechanics based on the discrete character of energy (Planck 1900) and the wave motion of material particles (de Broglie 1924). It is relies on the consideration that energy state of a quantum mechanical system can be derived at a given instant by a function whose square of the modulus gives the probability distribution of the coordinates of the system. Quantum mechanics is essential for the treatment of all atomic processes. It holds also for ordinary large scale processes although in this case the deviations from Newtonian mechanics are negligible.

→ quantum; → mechanics.

A quantum theory that incorporates special relativity, for example, → quantum electrodynamics.

→ relativistic; → quantum mechanics.

The surface area of a black hole's horizon can never decrease.

→ second; → law; → black hole; → mechanics.

1) Heat cannot be transferred from a colder to a hotter body without some other effect, i.e. without → work being done. Expressed in terms of → entropy: the entropy of an → isolated system tends toward a maximum and its available energy tends toward a minimum.
2) In language of → statistical physics, an isolated physical system will tend toward an equilibrium → macrostate with as large a total → entropy as possible, because then the number of → microstates is the largest. See also → Kelvin's postulate, → Clausius's postulate.

→ second; → law; → thermodynamics.

The study of the → meaning of signs or symbols, as opposed to their formal relations (→ syntactics).

→ semantic; → -ics.

The study of linguistic and non-linguistic signs and symbols used in natural and artificially constructed languages. Semiotics is usually divided into three branches: 1) → pragmatics, 2) → semantics, and 3) → syntax.

→ semiotic; → -ics.