ESS227
Prof. Jin-Yi Yu
Group Velocity
•The group velocity of a wave is the velocity with which the overall shape of the wave's amplitudes (i.e. envelope) propagates through space. •Two horizontally propagating waves of equal amplitude but slightly different wavelengths with wave numbers and frequencies differing by 2δk and 2δν, respectively. The total disturbance is thus:
high-frequency carrier wave
low-frequency amplitude modulation
travels at the speed of δν/δk è group velocity