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

1) An oval or round object laid by a female bird, reptile, fish, or invertebrate, usually containing a developing embryo. The eggs of birds are enclosed in a chalky shell, while those of reptiles are in a leathery membrane.
2) Biology: The female reproductive cell in animals and plants; an ovum (OxfordDictionaries.com).

M.E., from Old Norse egg, cognate with O.Saxon, M.Du., Du., O.H.G., Ger. Ei, probably from PIE *owyo-/*oyyo- "egg;" source of Pers. xâg, as below.

Toxm, → seed.
Xâg "egg," Lori, Laki xâ, Pash. hâ "egg," Ossetic ajk "egg," Bojnurdi hek "egg," Khotanese āhaa- "egg;" variant xâyé "egg; testicle;" Mid.Pers. xâyak "egg;" Av. aēm/aiam "egg;" cf. Gk. oion, L. ovum; Goth. ada; O.E. æg; Ger. Ei; PIE *owyo-/*oyyo- "egg."

The reappearance of a celestial body after an eclipse, an occultation, or a transit; same as emersion. → ingress.

From L. egressus, from egredi "to go out," from → ex- "out" + -gredi, comb. form of gradi "to walk, go, step;" from PIE *ghredh- (cf. Lith. gridiju "to go, wander," O.C.S. gredo "to come").

Osgâm "going out," from os- "out," → ex-, + gâm "step, pace," Mid.Pers. gâm, O.Pers. gam- "to come; to go," Av. gam- "to come; to go," jamaiti "goes," Mod.Pers. âmadan "to come," 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."

Same as → extreme horizontal branch star.

→ extreme horizontal branch star.

1) Math.: An → eigenvector for a linear → operator on a → vector space whose vectors are → functions. Also known as proper function.
2) Quantum mechanics: A → wave function corresponding to an → eigenvalue. Eigenfunctions represent the stationary → quantum states of a system.

From Ger. Eigenfunktion, from eigen- "characteristic, particular, own" (from P.Gmc. *aigana- "possessed, owned," Du. eigen, O.E. agen "one's own") + → function.

Viž-karyâ, from viž, contraction of vižé "particular, charcteristic" + karyâ, → function. Vižé, from Mid.Pers. apēcak "pure, sacred," from *apa-vēcak "set apart," from prefix apa- + vēcak, from vēxtan (Mod.Pers. bixtan) "to detach, separate, sift, remove," Av. vaēk- "to select, sort out, sift," pr. vaēca-, Skt. vic-, vinakti "to sift, winnow, separate; to inquire."

Quantum mechanics: A dynamical state whose state vector (or wave function) is an → eigenvector of an → operator corresponding to a specified physical quantity.

→ eigenfunction; → state.

1) Math.: The one of the → scalars λ such that T(v) = λv, where T is a linear → operator on a → vector space, and v is an → eigenvector.
2) Quantum mechanics: The specified values of → quantized energy for which the → Schrodinger equation is soluble, subject to the appropriate → boundary conditions.

→ eigenfunction; → value.

Math.: A nonzero vector v whose direction is not changed by a given linear transformation T; that is, T(v) = λ v for some scalar λ.

→ eigenfunction; → vector.

A → cardinal number between → seven and → nine.

M.E. eighte, from O.E. eahta, æhta, related to O.Norse atta, Swed. åtta, Du. acht, O.H.G. Ahto, Ger. acht; Pars. hašt, as below, from PIE *okto(u) "eight."

Hašt, from Mid.Pers. hašt; Av. ašta; cognate with Skt. asta; Gk. okto; L. octo (from which It. otto, Sp. ocho, Fr. huit).

A unit of radiation energy sometimes used in the investigation of photochemical processes. The unit is defined as N_Ahν, where N_A is → Avogadro's number and hν is the energy of a → quantum of the radiation. One einstein (or Einstein unit) is the energy per → mole of photons carried by a beam of monochromatic light.

Named for Albert Einstein (1879-1955).

A measure of the probability that a particular atomic transition leading to the formation of an atomic spectral line occurs. The coefficient of spontaneous emission is denoted by A_ij, and the coefficient of stimulated emission by B_ij, i representing the lower level and j is the upper level.

Named after Albert Einstein (1879-1955) who introduced the coefficients in 1916; → coefficient.

An image of a distant quasar (redshift 1.7) formed by a foreground spiral galaxy (redshift 0.039) through gravitational lensing. The image of the quasar is split into four point sources forming a cross at the center of the galaxy.

→ Einstein; → cross.

The → equivalence principle as stated by Einstein, on which is based the theory of → general relativity. It comprises the three following items:
1) The → weak equivalence principle is valid.
2) The outcome of any local non-gravitational experiment is independent of the velocity of the freely-falling → reference frame in which it is performed. Also known as → local Lorentz invariance.
3) The outcome of any local non-gravitational experiment is independent of where and when in the Universe it is performed. Also called → local position invariance.

→ Einstein; → equivalence; → principle.

A model for the → specific heat of solids in which the specific heat is due to the vibrations of the atoms of the solids. The vibration energy is → quantized and the atoms have a single frequency, ν. Put forward in 1907 by Einstein, this model was the first application of → quantum theory to the solid state physics. The expression for the specific heat is given by: C_V = 3Rx²e^x/(e^x -1)², where R is the → gas constant, x = T_E/T, T_E = hν/k, h is → Planck's constant, and k is → Boltzmann's constant. T_E is called the → Einstein temperature. This model could explain the temperature behavior of specific heat but not very satisfactorily at low temperatures. It has therefore been superseded by the → Debye model. See also → Dulong-Petit law.

Albert Einstein in 1907; → model.

A notation convention in → tensor analysis whereby whenever there is an expression with a repeated → index, the summation is done over that index from 1 to 3 (or from 1 to n, where n is the space dimension). For example, the dot product of vectors a and b is usually written as: a.b = Σ (i = 1 to 3) a_i.b_i. In the Einstein notation this is simply written as a.b = a_i.b_i. This notation makes operations much easier. Same as Einstein summation convention.

→ Einstein; → notation.

In gravitational lens phenomenon, the critical distance from the → lensing object for which the light ray from the source is deflected to the observer, provided that the source, the lens, and the observer are exactly aligned. Consider a massive object (the lens) situated exactly on the line of sight from Earth to a background source. The light rays from the source passing the lens at different distances are bent toward the lens. Since the bending angle for a light ray increases with decreasing distance from the lens, there is a critical distance such that the ray will be deflected just enough to hit the Earth. This distance is called the Einstein radius. By rotational symmetry about the Earth-source axis, an observer on Earth with perfect resolution would see the source lensed into an annulus, called Einstein ring, centered on its position. The size of an Einstein ring is given by the Einstein radius: θ_E = (4GM/c²)^0.5 (d_LS/(d_L.d_S)^0.5, where G is the → gravitational constant, M is the mass of the lens, c is the → speed of light, d_L is the angular diameter distance to the lens, d_S is the angular diameter distance to the source, and d_LS is the angular diameter distance between the lens and the source. The equation can be simplified to: θ_E = (0''.9) (M/10¹¹Msun)^0.5 (D/Gpc)^-0.5. Hence, for a dense cluster with mass M ~ 10 × 10¹⁵ Msun at a distance of 1 Gigaparsec (1 Gpc) this radius is about 100 arcsec. For a gravitational → microlensing event (with masses of order 1 Msun) at galactic distances (say D ~ 3 kpc), the typical Einstein radius would be of order milli-arcseconds.

→ Einstein; → radius.

The apparent shape of a background source unsergoing the effect of → gravitational lensing as seen from Earth, provided that the source, the intervening lens, and the observer are in perfect alignement through → Einstein radius.

→ Einstein; → ring.

Same as → Einstein model.

→ Einstein; → solid.

A cosmological model in which a static (neither expanding nor collapsing) Universe is maintained by introducing a cosmological repulsion force (in the form of the cosmological constant) to counterbalance the gravitational force.

→ Einstein; → static; arr; universe.

A characteristic parameter occurring in the → Einstein model of → specific heats.

→ Einstein; → temperature.

A mathematical entity describing the → curvature of → space-time in → Einstein's field equations, according to the theory of → general relativity. It is expressed by G_μν = R_μν - (1/2) g_μνR, where R_μν is the Ricci tensor, g_μν is the → metric tensor, and R the scalar curvature. This tensor is both symmetric and divergence free.

Named after Albert Einstein (1879-1955); → tensor.