MultiferroicsMultiferroics are defined as materials that exhibit more than one of the primary ferroic properties in the same phase: ferromagnetism – a magnetisation that is switchable by an applied magnetic field ferroelectricity – an electric polarisation that is switchable by an applied electric field ferroelasticity – a deformation that is switchable by an applied stress While ferroelectric ferroelastics and ferromagnetic ferroelastics are formally multiferroics, these days the term is usually used to describe the mag
Error functionIn mathematics, the error function (also called the Gauss error function), often denoted by erf, is a complex function of a complex variable defined as: Some authors define without the factor of . This nonelementary integral is a sigmoid function that occurs often in probability, statistics, and partial differential equations. In many of these applications, the function argument is a real number. If the function argument is real, then the function value is also real.
Proximity fuzeA proximity fuze (or fuse) is a fuze that detonates an explosive device automatically when it approaches within a certain distance of its target. Proximity fuzes are designed for elusive military targets such as airplanes and missiles, as well as ships at sea and ground forces. This sophisticated trigger mechanism may increase lethality by 5 to 10 times compared to the common contact fuze or timed fuze. Before the invention of the proximity fuze, detonation was induced by direct contact, a timer set at launch, or an altimeter.
Displacement mappingDisplacement mapping is an alternative computer graphics technique in contrast to bump, normal, and parallax mapping, using a texture or height map to cause an effect where the actual geometric position of points over the textured surface are displaced, often along the local surface normal, according to the value the texture function evaluates to at each point on the surface. It gives surfaces a great sense of depth and detail, permitting in particular self-occlusion, self-shadowing and silhouettes; on the other hand, it is the most costly of this class of techniques owing to the large amount of additional geometry.
Magnetic proximity fuzeA magnetic proximity fuse was patented by P.J. Eliomarkakis, (United States Patent US2434551 of January 13, 1948) although similar devices had been in service for nearly a decade. It is a type of proximity fuze that initiates a detonator in a piece of ordnance such as a land mine, naval mine, depth charge, or shell when the fuse's magnetic equilibrium is upset by a magnetic object such as a tank or a submarine. Magnetic field sensors and movement sensors inside the ordnance detect changes to the terrestrial magnetic field of the ordnance caused by another ferromagnetic object.
