Spectrum

The spectrogram is the result of calculating the frequency spectrum of windowed frames of the signal.

There are many specific meanings of spectrum:

In Sports

• The Spectrum was the sports arena in Philadelphia where the Philadelphia Flyers Hockey team and the Philadelphia 76ers Basketball team played untill the First Union Center was built; it is still located, used largely by the Philadelphia Phantoms, in the sports complex on Broad Street in Philadelphia.

In Mathematics

• The frequency spectrum is the result of a Fourier-related transform of a mathematical function into the frequency domain.
• The spectrum of an operator has to do with the invertibility of an operator in function spaces.
• The spectrum of a matrix is basically the spectrum of an operator where the matrix is considered as operator. Precisely, it is the set of the matrix's eigenvalues.
• The spectrum of a ring is the set of prime ideals of a ring.
• A (strange) construction, similar to the frequency spectrum, is the cepstrum of the quefrency.

In Music

• See: Timbre. Spectra is one of the determinants of the timbre or quality of a sound. It is the relative strength of pitches called harmonics and partials (collectively overtones) at various frequencies usually above the fundamental frequency, which is the actual note named (eg. an A).

In Physics

• The electromagnetic spectrum is the power spectrum of an electromagnetic signal - see: electromagnetic spectrum, spectroscopy
• The optical spectrum is the electromagnetic spectrum of visual light
• The power spectrum is the distribution of the energy of a function in the frequency domain, which is actually the same as the magnitude of the frequency spectrum. See spectroscopy.

In Pharmacology

• The spectrum of activity of an antibiotic evaluates how wide a range of infections can be treated.

In Politics

• There is a political spectrum which is said to go from left to right.

In Psychology

• There exists the concept of a bipolar spectrum.

In Telecommunication

• The term spread spectrum is used for certain kinds of signal transmission.

Other meanings

• Spectrum is the name of the defence force of Earth in the science fiction television series Captain Scarlet.

• The ZX Spectrum was also the name of a 1980s personal computer see ZX Spectrum.

Referenced By