Light wavenumber

The equation of restriction can embody causality, lower boundedness of energies in the spectrum, positive wavenumber in the outgoing wave (all these in nonrelativistic physics) and interactions inside the light cone only, conditions of mass speciality, and so on in relativistic physics. In the case of interest in this... 

In a vacuum all electromagnetic radiation travels at the same speed, the speed of light c, and may be characterized by its wavelength X, in air or vacuum, or by its wavenumber v or frequency v, both conventionally in a vacuum, where... 

UNITS, DIMENSIONS AND CONVENTIONS where c is the speed of light, the wavenumber v is simply its reciprocal ... 

Circular dichroism employs standard dispersive or interferometric instmmentation, but uses a thermal source that is rapidly modulated between circular polari2ation states using a photoelastic or electro-optic modulator. Using phase-sensitive detection, a difference signal proportional to the absorption difference between left- and right-polari2ed light, AA is recorded as a function of wavenumber. Relative differential absorptions... 

In the time-domain detection of the vibrational coherence, the high-wavenumber limit of the spectral range is determined by the time width of the pump and probe pulses. Actually, the highest-wavenumber band identified in the time-domain fourth-order coherent Raman spectrum is the phonon band of Ti02 at 826 cm. Direct observation of a frequency-domain spectrum is free from the high-wavenum-ber limit. On the other hand, the narrow-bandwidth, picosecond light pulse will be less intense than the femtosecond pulse that is used in the time-domain method and may cause a problem in detecting weak fourth-order responses. 

It is usually easier, mathematically, not to think in terms of wavelength X (which is inversely proportional to energy) but to employ variables that are directly proportional to energy. Most spectroscopists use co, which is the frequency of the vibration normalized to the speed of light c, so co = v + c, where v is the frequency. In the context of infrared spectroscopy, we usually call co the wavenumber of the band vibration. 

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