An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A wave phenomenon in which the density fluctuations of a physical quantity propagates in a compressible medium. For example, the → spiral arms of a → galaxy are believed to be due to a density wave which results from the natural instability of the → galactic disk caused by its own gravitational force. A common example of a density wave concerns traffic flow. A slow-moving vehicle on a narrow two-lane road causes a high density of cars to pile up behind it. As it moves down the highway the “traffic density wave” moves slowly too. But the density wave of cars does not keep the same cars in it. Instead, the first cars leave the density wave when they pass the slow vehicle and continue on at a more normal speed and new ones are added as they approach the density wave from behind. Moreover, the speed with which the density wave moves is lower than the average speed of the traffic and that the density wave can persist well after its original cause is gone. See → density wave theory.

See also: → density; → wave.