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

Act or instance of ejecting; the state of being ejected.

Verbal noun of → eject.

A kind of viscous → boundary layer in a rotating fluid system. Such a layer forms over a flat bottom that exerts a frictional → stress against the flow, bringing the velocity gradually to zero within the layer above the bottom. An Ekman layer occurs also on the fluid surface whenever there is a horizontal frictional stress, for example along ocean surface, when waters are subject to wind stress.

Named for Vagn Walfrid Ekman (1874-1954), Swedish oceanographer, who studied the phenomenon originally in his doctoral thesis (1902) and later developed it (1905, 1906); → layer.

A → dimensionless quantity that measures the strength of → viscous forces relative to the → Coriolis force in a rotating fluid. It is given by E_k = ν/(ΩH²), where ν is the → kinematic viscosity of the fluid, Ω is the → angular velocity, and H is the depth scale of the motion. The Ekman number is usually used in describing geophysical phenomena in the oceans and atmosphere. Typical geophysical flows, as well as laboratory experiments, yield very small Ekman numbers. For example, in the ocean at mid-latitudes, motions with a viscosity of 10^-2 m²/s are characterized by an Ekman number of about 10^-4.

→ Ekman layer; → number.

A cosmological model in which the → Big Bang is not the beginning of the → Universe, but a transitory phase in a more global scenario. The ekpyrotic Universe model is fundamentally different from the → standard cosmology and offers radically different explanations for the cosmological problems (→ homogeneity, → isotropy, → flatness, → magnetic monopoles, etc.). In this highly speculative model → space-time has five dimensions, four spatial and one temporal. Two three-dimensional → branes, one visible and one hidden, collide following the contraction of the extra dimension. The contraction produces a blue shift effect that converts gravitational energy into brane kinetic energy. Some fraction of this kinetic energy is converted into matter and radiation that can fuel the Big Bang. The resulting temperature is finite, so the hot Big Bang phase begins without a → singularity. Apart from being speculative, this model suffers from several fine tunings (J. Khoury et al. 2001, Phys. Rev. D64, 123522 (hep-th/0103239); P. J. Steinhardt & N. Turok, 2002, Phys. Rev. D65, 126003 (hep-th/0111098), and references therein).

Ekpyrotic is inspired by the ancient Stoic doctrine according to which the world ends in a supreme conflagration, called ekpyrosis, and then reborns from the fire (palingenesis), only to be destroyed again at the end of the new cycle; ekpyrosis, from Gk. ek- "out of," → ex-, + → pyro- combining form of pyr, → fire, + -sis a suffix used to form nouns of action, process, state, condition, such as thesis, analysis, catharsis; → Universe.

Giti, → Universe; âtašzâd, literally "born out of fire," from âtaš, → fire, + zâd "born," from zâdan "to bring forth," → generate.

El Niño. A significant warming of the ocean surface over the eastern and central equatorial Pacific that occurs at irregular intervals, generally ranging between two and seven years. El Niño conditions, which are often characterized by "warm events," most often develop after late December during the early months of the year and decay during the following year. → La Nina.

From Sp. El Niño "the child," i.e. "the Christ Child," alluding to the appearance of the current near Christmas. The term was originally applied by fishermen of northern Peru.

The thirteenth known moon of Jupiter, discovered in 1905 by Charles Perrine.

In Gk. mythology, Elara was the mother by Zeus of the giant Tityus.

Of, pertaining to, or noting a body having the property of → elasticity. See also → elastic collision, → elastic deformation, → elastic limit, → elastic scattering.

From Fr., from Gk. elastos "ductile, flexible," related to elaunein "to strike, beat out."

Kešâyand, from keš stem of kešidan/kašidan "to pull, drag, draw" (Av. karš- "to draw, to plough," karša- "furrow;" cf. Skt. kars-, kársati "to pull, drag, plough," Gk. pelo, pelomai "to be busy, to bustle") + âyand agent form of âmadan "to come; to become," from Mid.Pers. âmatan (O.Pers. gam- "to come; to go," Av. gam- "to come; to go," jamaiti "goes;" O.Iranian *āgmatani; Skt. gamati "goes;" Gk. bainein "to go, walk, step;" L. venire "to come;" Tocharian A käm- "to come;" O.H.G. queman "to come;" E. come; PIE root *gwem- "to go, come").

A collision between two particles which conserves the total kinetic energy and momentum of the system.

→ elastic; → collision.

A deformation of a → solid body in which the change (→ strain) in the relative position of points in the body disappears when the deforming stress is removed. See also → elastic limit.

→ elastic; → deformation.

The smallest → stress beyond which a → solid body can no longer return to its original shape. The material ceases to obey → Hooke's law. Also called → yield point.

→ elastic; → limit.

In a → collision between two → particles, the reaction in which the total → kinetic energy of the system, projectile plus target, is the same before the collision as after.
In the interaction of → electromagnetic waves with particles, the scattering when the → wavelength (→ frequency) of the → scattered light is the same as the → incident light (→ Rayleigh scattering, → Mie scattering).

→ elastic; → scattering.

A wave that propagates by → elastic deformation of the medium. The → propagation takes place by a change in shape that disappears when the forces are removed. In other words, the displaced particles transfer momentum to adjoining particles, and are themselves restored to their original position. A → seismic wave is a type of elastic wave.

→ elastic; → wave.

The ability of a body which has been → deformed by an applied → force to return to its original shape when the force is removed. Up to a certain point the material obeys → Hooke's law. See also → ductility, → plasticity.

→ elastic + → -ity.

The joint of the human → arm between the → upper arm and the → forearm.

M.E. elbowe, from O.E. elboga, elnboga, from ell + bow. Cognate with Scots elbuck, Du. elleboog, Ger. Ellbogen, Ellenbogen, Dan. albue, Icelandic olbogi, olnbogi "elbow."

Ârenj "elbow," variants âranj, âran "elbow," araš "forearm;" Mid.Pers. âranj, O.Pers. arašan- "cubit," Av. arəθnâ- "elbow," Skt. aratni- "elbow," Iranian stem aratan-, araθn-, borrowed from Iranian into General Slavic as aršin "ell."

Pertaining to, derived from, produced by, or associated with electricity.

Term coined in by the English physicist William Gilbert (1540-1603) in treatise De Magnete (1600), from L. electrum "amber," from Gk. elektron "amber."

Barqi, adj. of barq, → electricity.

A luminous and extremely hot electrical → discharge between two → electrodes when an ionized → plasma is created in the air or gas across the electrodes.

→ electric; → arc.

The intrinsic property of matter responsible for all electric phenomena, occurring in two forms arbitrarily designated → negative and → positive.

→ electric; → charge.

Physics: A closed path followed by an → electric current; a number of → conductors interconnected for the purpose of carrying an electric current.

→ electric; → circuit.

The → rate at which → electric charge → flows past a given point through a → conductor, measured in → amperes.

→ electric; → current.

1) A type of → charge distribution consisting of two charges, a positive and a negative charge of the same magnitude separated by a distance s, which is small compared to the distance r to the point P at which the → electric potential is V and the → electric field intensity is E.The potential falls as the square of the distance (1/r²) and the electric field intensity decreases as the cube of the distance (1/r³).
2) A simple → antenna consisting of a pair of oppositely charged → conductors capable of radiating an → electromagnetic wave in response to the movement of an electric charge from one conductor to the other.

→ electric; → dipole.