An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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The → conversion of one → form of energy into another, or the movement of energy from one place or system to another.

→ energy; → transfer.

A tensor (T_μν) related to the → Einstein tensor through → Einstein's field equations. The energy-momentum tensor depends upon the distribution of the → energy and → matter in the space.

→ energy; → momentum; → tensor.

1) General: Equal sharing of the → total energy among all → components of a → system.
2) In the → kinetic theory of gases, the → theorem according to which → molecules in → thermal equilibrium have the same average energy (¹/₂ kT) associated with each independent → degree of freedom of their motion.

→ equi-; → partition.

Amount of energy (usually measured in → electron-volts) required to bring an electron from its → ground state to a given → excited state.

→ excitation; → energy.

The energy of the highest occupied quantum state in a system of fermions at absolute zero temperature. See also → Fermi sea.

→ fermi; → energy.

The total energy needed to create a thermodynamic system minus the energy provided the environment. It is defined by G = U + PV -TS, where U is the → internal energy, T the → absolute temperature, S the → entropy, P the → pressure, and V is the final → volume. Same as the → Gibbs function and → thermodynamic potential.

Named after Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839-1903), an American physicist who played an important part in the foundation of analytical thermodynamics; → free; → energy.

Same as → gravitational potential energy.

→ gravitational; → energy.

1) The energy that an object possesses because of its position in a → gravitational field, especially an object near the surface of the Earth where the → gravitational acceleration can be assumed to be constant, at about 9.8 m s^-2.
2) In a two body system. It is the amount of work done in bringing the mass m to the distance R from M: E_P = -GMm/R, where G is the → gravitational constant.
3) For a uniform sphere. It is E_P = -(3/5)GM²/R, where G is the gravitational constant and M is the mass contained in the sphere of radius R.

→ gravitational; → potential; → energy.

Of a system, the quantity whose decrease gives the maximum amount of external work which is performed when any physical or chemical process is carried out reversibly at constant temperature. It is defined by F = U - TS, where U is the → internal energy, T the → absolute temperature, and S the final → entropy.

After the German physicist and physician Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821-1894), who made important contributions to the thermodynamics of gaseous systems; → free; → energy.

An array of → IACT telescopes for studying cosmic → gamma rays in the 100 GeV to 100 TeV energy range. The HESS observatory is located in Namibia, southern Africa, at an altitude of 1800 m, and the project is an international collaboration of more than 100 scientists from nine countries. In its Phase I, HESS used four telescopes each consisting of a light collector with a diameter of 13 m and a focal length of 15 m placed at the corners of a square 120 m apart. Each telescope is segmented into 380 round mirror facets of 60 cm diameter and uses a camera consisting of 960 closely packed → photomultiplier tubes. The first of the telescopes went into operation in Summer 2002. Phase II includes a fifth telescope, called Large Cherenkov Telescope (LCT), of 27 m diameter, located in the centre of the initial array. This upgrade lowers the triggering threshold of the HESS array to about 20 GeV, thus broadening the energy window in which gamma-ray astronomy can be done, opening up more opportunities in astrophysical research (see, e.g., Bernlöhr et al. 2003, Astroparticle Physics 20, 111).

H.E.S.S., short for High Energy Stereoscopic System, is also intended to pay homage to Victor F. Hess (1883-1964), an Austrian-American physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1936 for his discovery of → cosmic rays.

A branch of astrophysics that deals with objects emitting highly energetic radiation, such as X-ray astronomy, gamma-ray astronomy, and extreme ultraviolet astronomy, as well as neutrinos and cosmic rays.

→ high; → energy; → astrophysics.

Cosmic rays which typically have energies in the range 10¹⁵ to 10²⁰ electron volts. For the most part, they are protons and other atomic nuclei, and come from distant cosmos, perhaps even from outside our own Galaxy.

→ high; → energy; → cosmic; → ray.

A neutrino produced in high-energy particle collisions, such as those occurring when → cosmic rays strike atoms in the Earth's → atmosphere. Their energy range expands from a few → MeVs up to tenths of a → peta- (P) → electron-volts.

→ high; → energy; → neutrino.

The difference between the energy added to a system and the energy given up by the system in performing work.

→ internal; → energy.

Same as → ionization potential.

→ ionization; → energy.

The energy which a body possesses as a consequence of its motion, defined as one-half the product of its mass m and the square of its speed v, i.e. 1/2 mv².

→ kinetic; → energy.

The energy required to separate an ion from a → crystal to an infinite distance. In other words, the energy released when one → mole of a crystal is formed from gaseous ions.

→ lattice; → energy.

A neutrino which is mainly produced in → nuclear processes, such as the ones in the → Sun (→ solar neutrino), or in the center of an exploding → supernova. Such neutrinos are, however, more energetic than those making up the → cosmic neutrino background.

→ low; → energy; → neutrino.

The energy stored in a magnetic field. It is the → work that must be done to establish a magnetic field in terms of the → magnetic induction. Magnetic energy varies as the square of the magnetic induction. It can be expressed in several other ways, for example in terms of the current and of the magnetic flux, or in terms of the current density and vector potential.

→ magnetic; → energy.

The energy (E) associated with a mass (m), as specified by the → mass-energy equivalence  E = mc², where c is the → speed of light. For a moving body the total energy of the particle is expressed by: E² = m²c⁴ + p²c², where m is → rest mass and p → momentum.

→ mass; → energy.