Normal mode

A normal mode of an oscillating system is a pattern of motion in which all parts of the system move sinusoidally with the same
frequency and with a fixed phase relation. The free motion described by the normal modes takes place at the fixed frequencies. These
fixed frequencies of the normal modes of a system are known as its natural frequencies or resonant frequencies. A physical object,
such as a building, bridge or molecule, has a set of normal modes and their natural frequencies that depend on its structure, materials
and boundary conditions.

The most general motion of a system is a superposition of its normal modes. The modes are normal in the sense that they can move
independently, that is to say that an excitation of one mode will never cause motion of a different mode. In mathematical terms,
normal modes are orthogonal to each other.

Contents
General definitions
Mode
Mode numbers
Nodes
Vibration of a single normal mode of a
In mechanical systems circular disc with a pinned boundary
Coupled oscillators condition along the entire outer edge.See
Standing waves other modes.
Elastic solids
In quantum mechanics
In seismology
See also
Sources
External links

General definitions A flash photo of a cup of black coffee

vibrating in normal modes

Mode
In physics and engineering, for a dynamical system according to wave theory, a
mode is a standing wave state of excitation, in which all the components of the
system will be affected sinusoidally under a specified fixed frequency.

Because no real system can perfectly fit under the standing wave framework, the
mode concept is taken as a general characterization of specific states of oscillation,
thus treating the dynamic system in alinear fashion, in where linear superposition of
states can be performed.
Play media
As classical examples, there are: Excitation of normal modes in a drop
of water during the Leidenfrost effect
In a mechanical dynamical system, a vibrating rope is the most clear
example of a mode, in which the rope is the medium, the stress on the

rope is the excitation, and the displacement of the rope with respect to its static state is the modal variable.
 rope is the excitation, and the displacement of the rope with respect to its static state is the modal variable.
In an acoustic dynamical systems, a single sound pitch is a mode, in which the air is the medium, the sound
pressure in the air is the excitation, and the displacement of the air molecules is the modal variable.
In a structural dynamical systems, a high tall building oscillating under its most flexural axis is a mode, in which all
the material of the building -under the proper numerical simplifications- is the medium, the
seismic/wind/environmental solicitations are the excitations and the displacements are the modal variable.
In an electrical dynamical systems, a resonant cavity made of thin metal walls, enclosing a hollow space, for a
particle accelerator is a pure standing wave system, and thus an example of a mode, in which the hollow space of
the cavity is the medium, the RF source (a Klystron or another RF source) is the excitation and the electromagnetic
field is the modal variable.
When relating to music, normal modes of vibrating instruments (strings, air pipes, drums, etc.) are calledharmonics"
"
or "overtones".
The concept of normal modes also finds application inoptics, quantum mechanics, and molecular dynamics.
Most dynamical system can be excited under several modes. Each mode is characterized by one or several frequencies, according the
modal variable field. For example, a vibrating rope in the 2D space is defined by a single-frequency (1D axial displacement), but a
vibrating rope in the 3D space is defined by two frequencies -2D axial displacement-.

For a given amplitude on the modal variable, each mode will store a specific amount of ener
gy, because of the sinusoidal excitation.

From all the modes of a dynamical system, the normal or dominant mode of a system, will be the mode storing the minimum amount
of energy, for a given amplitude of the modal variable. Or equivalently, for a given stored amount of energy, will be the mode
imposing the maximum amplitude of the modal variable.

Mode numbers
A mode of vibration is characterized by a modal frequency and a mode shape. It is numbered according to the number of half waves
in the vibration. For example, if a vibrating beam with both ends pinned displayed a mode shape of half of a sine wave (one peak on
the vibrating beam) it would be vibrating in mode 1. If it had a full sine wave (one peak and one trough) it would be vibrating in
mode 2.

In a system with two or more dimensions, such as the pictured disk, each dimension is given a mode number. Using polar
coordinates, we have a radial coordinate and an angular coordinate. If one measured from the center outward along the radial
coordinate one would encounter a full wave, so the mode number in the radial direction is 2. The other direction is trickier, because
only half of the disk is considered due to the antisymmetric (also called skew-symmetry) nature of a disk's vibration in the angular
direction. Thus, measuring 180° along the angular direction you would encounter a half wave, so the mode number in the angular
direction is 1. So the mode number of the system is 2–1 or 1–2, depending on which coordinate is considered the "first" and which is
considered the "second" coordinate (so it is important to always indicate which mode number matches with each coordinate
direction).

In linear systems each mode is entirely independent of all other modes. In general all modes have different frequencies (with lower
modes having lower frequencies) and different mode shapes.

Nodes
In a one-dimensional system at a given mode the vibration will have nodes, or places where the displacement is always zero. These
nodes correspond to points in the mode shape where the mode shape is zero. Since the vibration of a system is given by the mode
shape multiplied by a time function, the displacement of the node points remain zero at all times.

When expanded to a two dimensional system, these nodes become lines where the displacement is always zero. If you watch the
animation above you will see two circles (one about halfway between the edge and center, and the other on the edge itself) and a
straight line bisecting the disk, where the displacement is close to zero. In a real system these lines would equal zero exactly, as
shown to the right.
In mechanical systems

Coupled oscillators
Consider two equal bodies (not affected by gravity), each of mass m, attached to
three springs, each with spring constant k. They are attached in the following
manner, forming a system that is physically symmetric:

A mode shape of a drum membrane,

with nodal lines shown in pale green
where the edge points are fixed and cannot move. We'll use x1(t) to denote the
horizontal displacement of the left mass, and x2(t) to denote the displacement of the
right mass.

If one denotes acceleration (the secondderivative of x(t) with respect to time) as , the equations of motion are:

Since we expect oscillatory motion of a normal mode (where ω is the same for both masses), we try:

Substituting these into the equations of motion gives us:

Since the exponential factor is common to all terms, we omit it and simplify:

And in matrix representation:

If the matrix on the left is invertible, the unique solution is the trivial solution (A1, A2) = (x1, x2) = (0,0). The non trivial solutions are
to be found for those values of ω whereby the matrix on the left is singular i.e. is not invertible. It follows that the determinant of the
matrix must be equal to 0, so:

Solving for , we have two positive solutions:

If we substitute ω1 into the matrix and solve for (A1, A2), we get (1, 1). If we substitute ω2, we get (1, −1). (These vectors are
eigenvectors, and the frequencies areeigenvalues.)

The first normal mode is:

Which corresponds to both masses moving in the same direction at the same time. This mode is called antisymmetric.

The second normal mode is:

This corresponds to the masses moving in the opposite directions, while the center of mass remains stationary. This mode is called
symmetric.

The general solution is a superposition of the normal modes where c1, c2, φ1, and φ2, are determined by the initial conditions of the
problem.

The process demonstrated here can be generalized and formulated using the formalism of Lagrangian mechanics or Hamiltonian
mechanics.

Standing waves
A standing wave is a continuous form of normal mode. In a standing wave, all the space elements (i.e. (x, y, z) coordinates) are
oscillating in the samefrequency and in phase (reaching the equilibrium point together), but each has a different amplitude.
The general form of a standing wave is:

where ƒ(x, y, z) represents the dependence of amplitude on location and the cosine\sine are the oscillations in time.

Physically, standing waves are formed by the interference (superposition) of waves and their reflections (although one may also say
the opposite; that a moving wave is a superposition of standing waves). The geometric shape of the medium determines what would
be the interference pattern, thus determines theƒ(x, y, z) form of the standing wave. This space-dependence is called anormal mode.

Usually, for problems with continuous dependence on (x, y, z) there is no single or finite number of normal modes, but there are
infinitely many normal modes. If the problem is bounded (i.e. it is defined on a finite section of space) there are countably many
normal modes (usually numberedn = 1, 2, 3, ...). If the problem is not bounded, there is a continuous spectrum of normal modes.

Elastic solids
See: Einstein solid and Debye model

In any solid at any temperature, the primary particles (e.g. atoms or molecules) are not stationary, but rather vibrate about mean
positions. In insulators the capacity of the solid to store thermal energy is due almost entirely to these vibrations. Many physical
properties of the solid (e.g. modulus of elasticity) can be predicted given knowledge of the frequencies with which the particles
vibrate. The simplest assumption (by Einstein) is that all the particles oscillate about their mean positions with the same natural
frequency ν. This is equivalent to the assumption that all atoms vibrate independently with a frequency ν. Einstein also assumed that
the allowed energy states of these oscillations are harmonics, or integral multiples of hν. The spectrum of waveforms can be
described mathematically using a Fourier series of sinusoidal density fluctuations (or thermal
phonons).

Debye subsequently recognized that each oscillator is intimately coupled to its

neighboring oscillators at all times. Thus, by replacing Einstein's identical
uncoupled oscillators with the same number of coupled oscillators, Debye
correlated the elastic vibrations of a one-dimensional solid with the number of
mathematically special modes of vibration of a stretched string (see figure).
The pure tone of lowest pitch or frequency is referred to as the fundamental
and the multiples of that frequency are called its harmonic overtones. He
assigned to one of the oscillators the frequency of the fundamental vibration of
the whole block of solid. He assigned to the remaining oscillators the
frequencies of the harmonics of that fundamental, with the highest of all these
frequencies being limited by the motion of the smallest primary unit.

The normal modes of vibration of a crystal are in general superpositions of

The fundamental and the first six
many overtones, each with an appropriate amplitude and phase. Longer overtones of a vibrating string. The
wavelength (low frequency) phonons are exactly those acoustical vibrations mathematics of wave propagation in
which are considered in the theory of sound. Both longitudinal and transverse crystalline solids consists of treating the
waves can be propagated through a solid, while, in general, only longitudinal harmonics as an ideal Fourier series of
sinusoidal density fluctuations (or atomic
waves are supported by fluids.
displacement waves).
In the longitudinal mode, the displacement of particles from their positions of
equilibrium coincides with the propagation direction of the wave. Mechanical
longitudinal waves have been also referred to as compression waves. For transverse modes, individual particles move perpendicular
to the propagation of the wave.

According to quantum theory, the mean energy of a normal vibrational mode of a crystalline solid with characteristic frequency
ν is:
The term (1/2)hν represents the "zero-point energy", or the energy which an oscillator will have at absolute zero. E(ν) tends to the
classic value kT at high temperatures

By knowing the thermodynamic formula,

the entropy per normal mode is:

The free energy is:

which, for kT >> hν, tends to:

In order to calculate the internal energy and the specific heat, we must know the number of normal vibrational modes a frequency
between the values ν and ν + dν. Allow this number to be f(ν)dν. Since the total number of normal modes is 3N, the function f(ν) is
given by:

The integration is performed over all frequencies of the crystal. Then the internal ener
gy U will be given by:

In quantum mechanics
In quantum mechanics, a state of a system is described by a wavefunction which solves the Schrödinger equation. The
square of the absolute value of , i.e.
is the probability density to measure the particle inplace x at time t.

Usually, when involving some sort of potential, the wavefunction is decomposed into a superposition of energy eigenstates, each
oscillating with frequency of . Thus, one may write

The eigenstates have a physical meaning further than an orthonormal basis. When the energy of the system is measured, the
wavefunction collapses into one of its eigenstates and so the particle wavefunction is described by the pure eigenstate corresponding
to the measured energy.

In seismology
Normal modes are generated in the earth from long wavelength seismic waves from large earthquakes interfering to form standing
waves.

For an elastic, isotropic, homogeneous sphere, spheroidal, toroidal and radial (or breathing) modes arise. Spheroidal modes only
involve P and SV waves (like Rayleigh waves) and depend on overtone number n and angular order l but have degeneracy of
azimuthal order m. Increasing l concentrates fundamental branch closer to surface and at large l this tends to Rayleigh waves.
Toroidal modes only involve SH waves (like Love waves) and do not exist in fluid outer core. Radial modes are just a subset of
spheroidal modes with l=0. The degeneracy doesn’t exist on Earth as it is broken by rotation, ellipticity and 3D heterogeneous
velocity and density structure.

We either assume that each mode can be isolated, the self-coupling approximation, or that many modes close in frequency resonant,
the cross-coupling approximation. Self-coupling will change just the phase velocity and not the number of waves around a great
circle resulting in a stretching or shrinking of standing wave pattern. Cross-coupling can be caused by rotation of Earth leading to
mixing of fundamental spheroidal and toroidal modes, or by aspherical mantle structure or Earth’
s ellipticity.

See also
Antiresonance
Critical speed
Harmonic oscillator
Harmonic series (music)
Infrared spectroscopy
Leaky mode
Mechanical resonance
Modal analysis
Quasinormal mode
Sturm–Liouville theory
Torsional vibration
Vibrations of a circular membrane

Sources
Blevins, Robert D. (2001).Formulas for natural frequency and mode shape(Reprint ed.). Malabar, Florida: Krieger
Pub. ISBN 978-1575241845.
Tzou, H.S.; Bergman, L.A., eds. (2008).Dynamics and Control of Distributed Systems. Cambridge [England]:
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521033749.
 Shearer, Peter M. (2009). Introduction to seismology(2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 231–
237. ISBN 9780521882101.

External links
Harvard lecture notes on normal modes
Java simulation of coupled oscillators
Java simulation of the normal modes of astring, drum, and bar
Mode shape visualization of real structures

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