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SuperpositionprincipleWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Superpositionprinciple
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Inphysicsandsystemstheory,thesuperpositionprinciple,[1]alsoknown
assuperpositionproperty,statesthat,foralllinearsystems,thenet
responseatagivenplaceandtimecausedbytwoormorestimuliisthesum
oftheresponseswhichwouldhavebeencausedbyeachstimulus
individually.SothatifinputAproducesresponseXandinputBproduces
responseYtheninput(A+B)producesresponse(X+Y).
Thehomogeneityandadditivitypropertiestogetherarecalledthe
superpositionprinciple.Alinearfunctionisonethatsatisfiestheproperties
ofsuperposition.Whichisdefinedas
Additivity
Homogeneity
forscalara.

Superpositionofalmostplanewaves
(diagonallines)fromadistantsource
andwavesfromthewakeofthe
ducks.Linearityholdsonly
approximatelyinwaterandonlyfor
waveswithsmallamplitudesrelative
totheirwavelengths.

Thisprinciplehasmanyapplicationsinphysicsandengineeringbecause
manyphysicalsystemscanbemodeledaslinearsystems.Forexample,a
beamcanbemodeledasalinearsystemwheretheinputstimulusistheloadonthebeamandtheoutputresponse
isthedeflectionofthebeam.Theimportanceoflinearsystemsisthattheyareeasiertoanalyzemathematically
thereisalargebodyofmathematicaltechniques,frequencydomainlineartransformmethodssuchasFourier,
Laplacetransforms,andlinearoperatortheory,thatareapplicable.Becausephysicalsystemsaregenerallyonly
approximatelylinear,thesuperpositionprincipleisonlyanapproximationofthetruephysicalbehaviour.
Thesuperpositionprincipleappliestoanylinearsystem,includingalgebraicequations,lineardifferential
equations,andsystemsofequationsofthoseforms.Thestimuliandresponsescouldbenumbers,functions,
vectors,vectorfields,timevaryingsignals,oranyotherobjectwhichsatisfiescertainaxioms.Notethatwhen
vectorsorvectorfieldsareinvolved,asuperpositionisinterpretedasavectorsum.

Contents
1 RelationtoFourieranalysisandsimilarmethods
2 Wavesuperposition
2.1 Wavediffractionvs.waveinterference
2.2 Waveinterference
2.3 Departuresfromlinearity
2.4 Quantumsuperposition
3 Boundaryvalueproblems
4 Additivestatedecomposition
5 Otherexampleapplications
6 History
7 Seealso
8 Furtherreading
9 References
10 Externallinks
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RelationtoFourieranalysisandsimilarmethods
Bywritingaverygeneralstimulus(inalinearsystem)asthesuperpositionofstimuliofaspecific,simpleform,
oftentheresponsebecomeseasiertocompute.
Forexample,inFourieranalysis,thestimulusiswrittenasthesuperpositionofinfinitelymanysinusoids.Dueto
thesuperpositionprinciple,eachofthesesinusoidscanbeanalyzedseparately,anditsindividualresponsecanbe
computed.(Theresponseisitselfasinusoid,withthesamefrequencyasthestimulus,butgenerallyadifferent
amplitudeandphase.)Accordingtothesuperpositionprinciple,theresponsetotheoriginalstimulusisthesum(or
integral)ofalltheindividualsinusoidalresponses.
Asanothercommonexample,inGreen'sfunctionanalysis,thestimulusiswrittenasthesuperpositionofinfinitely
manyimpulsefunctions,andtheresponseisthenasuperpositionofimpulseresponses.
Fourieranalysisisparticularlycommonforwaves.Forexample,inelectromagnetictheory,ordinarylightis
describedasasuperpositionofplanewaves(wavesoffixedfrequency,polarization,anddirection).Aslongasthe
superpositionprincipleholds(whichisoftenbutnotalwaysseenonlinearoptics),thebehaviorofanylightwave
canbeunderstoodasasuperpositionofthebehaviorofthesesimplerplanewaves.

Wavesuperposition
Wavesareusuallydescribedbyvariationsinsomeparameterthroughspace
andtimeforexample,heightinawaterwave,pressureinasoundwave,
ortheelectromagneticfieldinalightwave.Thevalueofthisparameteris
calledtheamplitudeofthewave,andthewaveitselfisafunction
specifyingtheamplitudeateachpoint.

Twowavestravelinginopposite
directionsacrossthesamemedium
combinelinearly.Inthisanimation,
bothwaveshavethesamewavelength
andthesumofamplitudesresultsina
standingwave.

Inanysystemwithwaves,thewaveformatagiventimeisafunctionofthe
sources(i.e.,externalforces,ifany,thatcreateoraffectthewave)and
initialconditionsofthesystem.Inmanycases(forexample,intheclassic
waveequation),theequationdescribingthewaveislinear.Whenthisis
true,thesuperpositionprinciplecanbeapplied.Thatmeansthatthenet
amplitudecausedbytwoormorewavestraversingthesamespaceisthe
sumoftheamplitudeswhichwouldhavebeenproducedbytheindividualwavesseparately.Forexample,two
wavestravelingtowardseachotherwillpassrightthrougheachotherwithoutanydistortionontheotherside.(See
imageattop.)

Wavediffractionvs.waveinterference
Withregardtowavesuperposition,RichardFeynmanwrote:[2]
Noonehaseverbeenabletodefinethedifferencebetweeninterferenceanddiffractionsatisfactorily.
Itisjustaquestionofusage,andthereisnospecific,importantphysicaldifferencebetweenthem.The
bestwecandois,roughlyspeaking,istosaythatwhenthereareonlyafewsources,saytwo,
interfering,thentheresultisusuallycalledinterference,butifthereisalargenumberofthem,it
seemsthattheworddiffractionismoreoftenused.
Otherauthorselaborate:[3]
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Thedifferenceisoneofconvenienceandconvention.Ifthewavestobesuperposedoriginatefroma
fewcoherentsources,say,two,theeffectiscalledinterference.Ontheotherhand,ifthewavestobe
superposedoriginatebysubdividingawavefrontintoinfinitesimalcoherentwavelets(sources),the
effectiscalleddiffraction.Thatisthedifferencebetweenthetwophenomenais[amatter]ofdegree
only,andbasicallytheyaretolimitingcasesofsuperpositioneffects.
Yetanothersourceconcurs:[4]
InasmuchastheinterferencefringesobservedbyYoungwerethediffractionpatternofthedoubleslit,
thischapter[Fraunhoferdiffraction]isthereforeacontinuationofChapter8[Interference].Onthe
otherhand,fewopticianswouldregardtheMichelsoninterferometerasanexampleofdiffraction.
Someoftheimportantcategoriesofdiffractionrelatetotheinterferencethataccompaniesdivisionof
thewavefront,soFeynman'sobservationtosomeextentreflectsthedifficultythatwemayhavein
distinguishingdivisionofamplitudeanddivisionofwavefront.

Waveinterference
Thephenomenonofinterferencebetweenwavesisbasedonthisidea.Whentwoormorewavestraversethesame
space,thenetamplitudeateachpointisthesumoftheamplitudesoftheindividualwaves.Insomecases,suchas
innoisecancellingheadphones,thesummedvariationhasasmalleramplitudethanthecomponentvariationsthis
iscalleddestructiveinterference.Inothercases,suchasinLineArray,thesummedvariationwillhaveabigger
amplitudethananyofthecomponentsindividuallythisiscalledconstructiveinterference.
combined
waveform
wave1
wave2
Twowavesinphase

Departuresfromlinearity

Twowaves180out
ofphase

greenwavetraversetotherightwhile
bluewavetransverseleft,thenetred
waveamplitudeateachpointisthe
sumoftheamplitudesofthe
individualwaves.

Inmostrealisticphysicalsituations,theequationgoverningthewaveisonlyapproximatelylinear.Inthese
situations,thesuperpositionprincipleonlyapproximatelyholds.Asarule,theaccuracyoftheapproximationtends
toimproveastheamplitudeofthewavegetssmaller.Forexamplesofphenomenathatarisewhenthe
superpositionprincipledoesnotexactlyhold,seethearticlesnonlinearopticsandnonlinearacoustics.

Quantumsuperposition
Inquantummechanics,aprincipaltaskistocomputehowacertaintypeofwavepropagatesandbehaves.The
waveisdescribedbyawavefunction,andtheequationgoverningitsbehavioriscalledtheSchrdingerequation.
Aprimaryapproachtocomputingthebehaviorofawavefunctionistowriteitasasuperposition(called"quantum

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superposition")of(possiblyinfinitelymany)otherwavefunctionsofacertaintypestationarystateswhose
behaviorisparticularlysimple.SincetheSchrdingerequationislinear,thebehavioroftheoriginalwavefunction
canbecomputedthroughthesuperpositionprinciplethisway.[5]
Theprojectivenatureofquantummechanicalstatespacemakesanimportantdifference:itdoesnotpermit
superpositionofthekindthatisthetopicofthepresentarticle.Aquantummechanicalstateisarayinprojective
Hilbertspace,notavector.Thesumoftworaysisundefined.Toobtaintherelativephase,wemustdecomposeor
splittherayintocomponents

wherethe

andthe

belongstoanorthonormalbasisset.Theequivalenceclassof

definedmeaningtobegiventotherelativephasesofthe

allowsawell

.[6]

Therearesomelikenessesbetweenthesuperpositionpresentedinthemainonthispage,andquantum
superposition.Nevertheless,onthetopicofquantumsuperposition,Kramerswrites:"Theprincipleof[quantum]
superposition...hasnoanalogyinclassicalphysics."AccordingtoDirac:"thesuperpositionthatoccursin
quantummechanicsisofanessentiallydifferentnaturefromanyoccurringintheclassicaltheory[italicsin
original]."[7]ThetopicofquantumsuperpositionisdiscussedhereinWikipedia.

Boundaryvalueproblems
Acommontypeofboundaryvalueproblemis(toputitabstractly)findingafunctionythatsatisfiessomeequation

withsomeboundaryspecification

Forexample,inLaplace'sequationwithDirichletboundaryconditions,FwouldbetheLaplacianoperatorina
regionR,GwouldbeanoperatorthatrestrictsytotheboundaryofR,andzwouldbethefunctionthatyis
requiredtoequalontheboundaryofR.
InthecasethatFandGarebothlinearoperators,thenthesuperpositionprinciplesaysthatasuperpositionof
solutionstothefirstequationisanothersolutiontothefirstequation:

whiletheboundaryvaluessuperpose:

Usingthesefacts,ifalistcanbecompiledofsolutionstothefirstequation,thenthesesolutionscanbecarefully
putintoasuperpositionsuchthatitwillsatisfythesecondequation.Thisisonecommonmethodofapproaching
boundaryvalueproblems.

Additivestatedecomposition
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Considerasimplelinearsystem:

Bysuperpositionprinciple,thesystemcanbedecomposedinto

with
Superpositionprincipleisonlyavailableforlinearsystems.However,theAdditivestate
decompositioncanbeappliednotonlytolinearsystemsbutalsononlinearsystems.Next,consideranonlinear
system

where isanonlinearfunction.Bytheadditivestatedecomposition,thesystemcanbeadditivelydecomposed
into

with

Thisdecompositioncanhelptosimplifycontrollerdesign.

Otherexampleapplications
Inelectricalengineering,inalinearcircuit,theinput(anappliedtimevaryingvoltagesignal)isrelatedto
theoutput(acurrentorvoltageanywhereinthecircuit)byalineartransformation.Thus,asuperposition
(i.e.,sum)ofinputsignalswillyieldthesuperpositionoftheresponses.TheuseofFourieranalysisonthis
basisisparticularlycommon.Foranother,relatedtechniqueincircuitanalysis,seeSuperpositiontheorem.
Inphysics,Maxwell'sequationsimplythatthe(possiblytimevarying)distributionsofchargesandcurrents
arerelatedtotheelectricandmagneticfieldsbyalineartransformation.Thus,thesuperpositionprinciple
canbeusedtosimplifythecomputationoffieldswhicharisefromgivenchargeandcurrentdistribution.The
principlealsoappliestootherlineardifferentialequationsarisinginphysics,suchastheheatequation.
Inmechanicalengineering,superpositionisusedtosolveforbeamandstructuredeflectionsofcombined
loadswhentheeffectsarelinear(i.e.,eachloaddoesnotaffecttheresultsoftheotherloads,andtheeffectof
eachloaddoesnotsignificantlyalterthegeometryofthestructuralsystem).[8]Modesuperpositionmethod
usesthenaturalfrequenciesandmodeshapestocharacterizethedynamicresponseofalinearstructure.[9]
Inhydrogeology,thesuperpositionprincipleisappliedtothedrawdownoftwoormorewaterwells
pumpinginanidealaquifer.
Inprocesscontrol,thesuperpositionprincipleisusedinmodelpredictivecontrol.
Thesuperpositionprinciplecanbeappliedwhensmalldeviationsfromaknownsolutiontoanonlinear
systemareanalyzedbylinearization.
Inmusic,theoristJosephSchillingerusedaformofthesuperpositionprincipleasonebasisofhisTheoryof
RhythminhisSchillingerSystemofMusicalComposition.

History
AccordingtoLonBrillouin,theprincipleofsuperpositionwasfirststatedbyDanielBernoulliin1753:"The
generalmotionofavibratingsystemisgivenbyasuperpositionofitspropervibrations."Theprinciplewas
rejectedbyLeonhardEulerandthenbyJosephLagrange.Lateritbecameaccepted,largelythroughtheworkof
JosephFourier.[10]

Seealso
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Impulseresponse
Green'sfunction
Quantumsuperposition
Interference
Beat(acoustics)
Coherence(physics)
Convolution
Additivestatedecomposition

Furtherreading
Haberman,Richard(2004).AppliedPartialDifferentialEquations.PrenticeHall.ISBN0130652431.
Superpositionofsoundwaves(http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/feschools/waves/super.htm)

References
1.ThePenguinDictionaryofPhysics,ed.ValerieIllingworth,1991,PenguinBooks,London
2.LecturesinPhysics,Vol,1,1963,pg.301,AddisonWesleyPublishingCompanyReading,Mass[1](http://books.googl
e.com.br/books?id=SJFAgAAQBAJ&lpg=SA30PA1&dq=feynman%20interference%20and%20diffraction&pg=SA30P
A1#v=onepage&q=feynman%20interference%20and%20diffraction&f=false)
3.N.K.VERMA,PhysicsforEngineers,PHILearningPvt.Ltd.,Oct18,2013,p.361.[2](http://books.google.com.br/bo
oks?id=kY7AQAAQBAJ&lpg=PA361&dq=feynman%20interference%20and%20diffraction&pg=PA361#v=onepage&q=
feynman%20interference%20and%20diffraction&f=false)
4.TimFreegard,IntroductiontothePhysicsofWaves,CambridgeUniversityPress,Nov8,2012.[3](http://books.google.c
om.br/books?id=eMMgAwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA106&dq=feynman%20interference%20and%20diffraction&pg=PA106#v=on
epage&q=feynman%20interference%20and%20diffraction&f=false)
5.QuantumMechanics,Kramers,H.A.publisherDover,1957,p.62ISBN9780486667720
6.Solem,J.C.Biedenharn,L.C.(1993)."Understandinggeometricalphasesinquantummechanics:Anelementary
example".FoundationsofPhysics23(2):185195.Bibcode:1993FoPh...23..185S.doi:10.1007/BF01883623.
7.Dirac,P.A.M.(1958).ThePrinciplesofQuantumMechanics,4thedition,OxfordUniversityPress,OxfordUK,p.14.
8.MechanicalEngineeringDesign,ByJosephEdwardShigley,CharlesR.Mischke,RichardGordonBudynas,Published
2004McGrawHillProfessional,p.192ISBN0072520361
9.FiniteElementProcedures,Bathe,K.J.,PrenticeHall,EnglewoodCliffs,1996,p.785ISBN0133014584
10.Brillouin,L.(1946).WavepropagationinPeriodicStructures:ElectricFiltersandCrystalLattices,McGrawHill,New
York,p.2.

Externallinks
WikimediaCommonshasmediarelatedtoInterference.
WikimediaCommonshasmediarelatedtoSuperposition
principle.
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Categories: Conceptsinphysics Waves Systemstheory
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