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

Physical principle, put forward by Niels Bohr in 1928, that a complete knowledge of phenomena on atomic dimensions requires a description of both wave and particle properties.

→ complementarity; → principle.

Forming or serving as a complement; completing.

From → complement.

Any angle that when added to another one creates a 90° angle.

→ complementary; → angle.

Same as → complementary screens.

→ complementary; → aperture.

Two apertures where opaque and transparent areas are inverted. If A is an aperture that has some opaque areas and some transparent ones, the complementary pattern A' is the pattern in which exactly the opposite areas are opaque and transparent. Thus, the complimentary screen of a single slit is a wire of the same size, and the complementary screen of a circular opening is a dot. A better term would be → complementary apertures.

→ complementary; → screen.

1a) General: Having all necessary parts, elements, or steps.
1b) Math: Of a deductive theory or system, the property that every statement formulated in terms of the theory can be either proved or disproved.
2) To make whole or entire; to make perfect.

From O.Fr. complet "full," from L. completus, p.p. of complere "to fill up," from → com- + plere "to fill," PIE *pelu- "full," from *pel- "to be full;" cf. O.Pers. paru- "much, many," Av. parav-, pauru-, pouru-, par- "to fill," Mod.Pers. por "full," Skt. puru-, Gk. polus.

1) Ospor, from Mid.Pers. uspurr "complete, entire," from prefix us-, os-, → ex-, + por "full," O.Pers. paru- "much, many," Av. parav-, pauru-, pouru-, par- "to fill," PIE *pelu- "full," from *pel- "to be full;" cf. Skt. puru-, Gk. polus, O.E. full "completely, full," from P.Gmc. *fullaz, O.H.G. fol, Ger. voll, Goth. full.
2) From ospor + -idan infinitive suffix.

In → graph theory, a simple graph with an → edge between every pair of → vertices.

→ complete; → graph.

Quantum mechanics: A set of states such that any state can be represented as a superposition of them.

→ complete; → set.

1) The state of being complete and entire.
2) Logic: The condition of a → formal system if every → valid  → inference is → provable by means of the rules of the system.

From → complete + → -ness.

In photometric studies of a → population of astronomical objects (usually stars or galaxies), the magnitude that represents the faintest members of the population.

→ completeness; → magnitude.

1) General: (n. & adj.) A whole comprised of many elements. → complex wave.
2) (adj.) Complicated and hard to solve.
3) Math: Pertaining to or using → complex numbers.

From Fr. complexe, from L. complexus "surrounding, encompassing," p.p. of complecti "to embrace, encompass, include," from → com- "together" + plectere "to weave, twine."

Hamtâft, from ham- "together," → com- + tâft past stem of tâftan, tâbidan "to twist, to spin, to bend, to crook," p.p. tâftah "spun, silk or linen cloth," loaned into E. taffeta (from O.Fr. taffetas, from It. taffeta); similarly Gk. tapetion "little carpet" is probably from this Iranian origin (from which tapestry, tapis); Proto-Ir. *tap- "to spin," related to tan-, tanidan "to spin; to stretch," → tension.

A → complex number in which the → real part of the number remains the same, but i is replaced by -i. For example, the complex conjugate of x + iy is x - iy. Same as → conjugate complex number.

→ complex; → conjugate.

A → dynamical variable which has an → imaginary number part.

→ complex; → dynamical; → variable.

The complex notation for the → Fourier series of a function f(x). Using → Euler's formulae, the function can be written in cimplex form as f(x) = Σ c_n e^inx (summed from -∞ to ∞), where the → Fourier coefficients are c_n = (1/2π)∫ f(x) e^-inx dx (integral from -π to +π).

→ complex; → Fourier series.

A fraction in which the → numerator or → denominator, or both, contain fractions. For example (3/5)/(6/7). Also called → compound fraction.

→ complex; → fraction.

A function whose → variables are → complex numbers.

→ complex; → function.

A molecule in the → interstellar medium comprising at least six atoms (e.g. Herbst & van Dishoeck, 2009, ARA&A).

→ complex; → molecule.

Any number of the form u = a + bi, where a and b are → real numbers and i imaginary, i.e. i² = -1.

→ complex; → number.

A → complex molecule containing C, H, O, and N atoms and involved in life developing processes. See also → organic molecule.

→ complex; → organic; → molecule.

Same as → composite population.

→ complex; → population.