Phase

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A phase is one point or portion in a recurring series of changes. Phase or phases may also refer to:

In science and engineering:

• Phase (matter), a physically distinctive form of a substance, such as the solid, liquid, and gaseous states of ordinary matter
• Phase (systems), in a complex system, a behaviour that emerges from the interactions of components at a small scale
• The initial condition of a cyclic phenomenon
  • Phase (waves), initial angle of a sinusoid function at its origin
  • Continuous Fourier transform, angle of a complex coefficient representing the phase of one sinusoidal component
• The current (time varying) state of a cyclic phenomenon
  • Lunar phase, the appearance of the Moon as viewed from the Earth
  • Planetary phase, the appearance of the illuminated section of a planet
  • Instantaneous phase, generalization for both cyclic and non-cyclic phenomena
• Phase factor, a complex scalar in the context of quantum mechanics
• Polyphase system, a means of distributing alternating current electric power in multiple conducting wires with definite phase offsets
  • Single-phase electric power
  • Three-phase electric power Basics of three-phase electric power
  • Three-phase Mathematics of three-phase electric power
• In biology, a part of the cell cycle in which cells divide and reproduce
• Phaser (effect), an audio effect.

In fiction:

• "Phases" (Buffy episode), an episode of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Phases (.hack), fictional boss monsters from the .hack franchise
• Phase, an incarnation of the DC Comics character usually known as Phantom Girl
• Phase IV, a 1974 science fiction movie directed by Saul Bass

Other:

• Phase (syntax), a syntactic domain hypothesized by Noam Chomsky
• Phase 10, a card game created by Fundex Games

See also:

• Faze
• Phaser
• Phasor