| 单词 | soliton | |||
| 释义 | solitonsol·i·tonS0550550 (sŏl′ĭ-tŏn′)soliton(ˈsɒlɪˌtɒn)
solitonSolitonAn isolated wave that propagates without dispersing its energy over larger and larger regions of space. In most of the scientific literature, the requirement that two solitons emerge unchanged from a collision is also added to the definition; otherwise the disturbance is termed a solitary wave. There are many equations of mathematical physics which have solutions of the soliton type. Correspondingly, the phenomena which they describe, be it the motion of waves in shallow water or in an ionized plasma, exhibit solitons. The first observation of this kind of wave was made in 1834 by John Scott Russell, who followed on horseback a soliton propagating in the windings of a channel. In 1895, D. J. Korteweg and H. de Vries proposed an equation for the motion of waves in shallow waters which possesses soliton solutions, and thus established a mathematical basis for the study of the phenomenon. Interest in the subject, however, lay dormant for many years, and the major body of investigations began only in the 1950s. Researches done by analytical methods and by numerical methods made possible with the advent of computers gradually led to a complete understanding of solitons. Eventually, the fact that solitons exhibit particlelike properties, because the energy is at any instant confined to a limited region of space, received attention, and solitons were proposed as models for elementary particles. However, it is difficult to account for all of the properties of known particles in terms of solitons. More recently it has been realized that some of the quantum fields which are used to describe particles and their interactions also have solutions of the soliton type. The solitons would then appear as additional particles, and may have escaped experimental detection because their masses are much larger than those of known particles. In this context the requirement that solitons emerge unchanged from a collision has been found too restrictive, and particle theorists have used the term soliton where traditionally the term solitary wave would be used. See Elementary particle, Quantum field theory A hydrodynamic soliton is simply described by the equation of Korteweg and de Vries, which includes a dispersive term and a term to represent nonlinear effects. Easily observed in a wave tank, a bell-shaped solution of this equation balances the effects of dispersion and nonlinearity, and it is this balance that is the essential feature of the soliton phenomenon. Tidal waves in the Firth of Forth were found by Scott Russell to be solitons, as are internal ocean waves and tsunamis. At an even greater level of energy, it has been suggested that the Great Red Spot of the planet Jupiter is a hydrodynamic soliton. The most significant technical application of the soliton is as a carrier of digital information along an optical fiber. The optical soliton is governed by the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, and again expresses a balance between the effects of optical dispersion and nonlinearity that is due to electric field dependence of the refractive index in the fiber core. If the power is too low, nonlinear effects become negligible, and the information spreads (or disperses) over an ever increasing length of the fiber. At a pulse power level of about 5 milliwatts, however, a robustly stable soliton appears and maintains its size and shape in the presence of disturbing influences. Present designs for data transmission systems based on the optical soliton have a data rate of 4 × 109 bits per second. A carefully studied soliton system is the transverse electromagnetic (TEM) wave that travels between two strips of superconducting metal separated by an insulating layer thin enough (about 2.5 nanometers) to permit transverse Josephson tunneling. Since each soliton carries one quantum of magnetic flux, it is also called a fluxon if the magnetic flux points in one direction, and an antifluxon if the flux points in the opposite direction. Oscillators based on this system reach into the submillimeter wave region of the electromagnetic spectrum (frequencies greater than 1011 Hz). See Josephson effect The all-or-nothing action potential or nerve impulse that carries a bit of biological information along the axon of a nerve cell shares many properties with the soliton. Both are solutions of nonlinear equations that travel with fixed shape at constant speed, but the soliton conserves energy, while the nerve impulse balances the rate at which electrostatic energy is released from the nerve membrane to the rate at which it is consumed by the dissipative effects of circulating ionic currents. The nerve process is much like the flame of a candle. soliton[′säl·ə‚tän]solitonA laser pulse that retains its shape in a fiber over long distances. By generating the pulse at a certain frequency and at a certain power level, the pulse takes advantage of competing dispersion effects. As it travels, the pulse is lengthened and then shortened back to its original size.soliton
Synonyms for soliton
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