This is a working table developed to help plan the handling of the subfields of acoustics in the main article on acoustics that is about to be revised. Other tables and discussions follow. Adrian Pollock (talk) 04:27, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
| Subfield | Status | Google refs | 13 ASA Tech Comm's | 18 PACS (AIP) Classes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acoustic(al) measurements and instrumentation | 35 lines, diagrams, good but rather short, sketchy | 22600 (80700) and 1100 (49000) | Part of engineering acoustics | 43.58.-e |
| Acoustic signal processing | 35 lines, good but rather short, sketchy | 67600 | Signal processing in acoustics; part of engineering acoustics | 43.60.-c |
| Aeroacoustics | 85 lines, very good, equations | 73600 | (Noise) | 43.28.-g "and atmospheric acoustics" |
| Architectural acoustics | 65 lines, good except lack of references | 80300 | Architectural acoustics | 43.55.-h |
| Bioacoustics | 120 lines, very good, diagrams, links, references | 166000 | Animal bioacoustics | 43.80.-n |
| Biomedical acoustics | Biomedical ultrasound / bioresponse to vibration | 2540 | Biomedical ultrasound, part of physical acoustics | Merge into: Ultrasonics for 43.35.Wa bioreponse to vibration |
| Environmental acoustics | 21800 | Noise | 43.50.-x "Noise, its effects and control" | |
| Musical acoustics | 140 lines, very good, 9 sections, diagrams, links | 45200 | Musical acoustics | 43.75.-z "Music and musical instruments" |
| Nonlinear Acoustics | 25 lines, marked as needing expert attention, very sketchy | 24800 | Part of physical acoustics | 43.25.-x |
| Physical acoustics | 57700 | Physical acoustics | 43.20.-f "General linear acoustics" | |
| Physiological acoustics | 11200 | Psychological and physiological acoustics | 43.64.-q | |
| Psychoacoustics | 160 lines, very good, 11 sections, links, references | 216000 | Psychological and physiological acoustics | 43.66.-x |
| Speech communication | 30-line stub identified as such. OK start, needs more. | 565000 | Speech communication | 43.70.-h (production) 43.71.-k (perception) |
| Structural acoustics and vibration | 23600 and 27400000 | Structural acoustics and vibration | 43.40.-r | |
| Transduction | The link is to a disambiguation page that does not include "our" meaning | 4100000 | Transducers are part of engineering acoustics | 43.38.-p (with words) |
| Ultrasonics | 25 lines by a knowledgable person but there's a semantic issue here | 915000 | Part of physical acoustics; "Ultrasound" is part of engineering acoustics | 43.55.-c "...quantum acoustics and physical effects of sound" |
| Underwater acoustics | 200 lines, very good, authoritative, many sections,
42 references and 12 external links |
79800 | Underwater acoustics; acoustical oceanography; part of engineering acoustics | 43.30.-k "Underwater sound" |
| Engineering acoustics |
This table edition 68.83.145.51 (talk) 05:46, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
This is a working copy from the existing main article on acoustics:
The following are the main sub-disciplines of acoustics:[1]
- Acoustical measurements and instrumentation
- Acoustic signal processing
- Aeroacoustics: study of aerodynamic sound, generated when a fluid flow interacts with a solid surface or with another flow. It has particular application to aeronautics, examples being the study of sound made by flying jets and the physics of shock waves (sonic booms).
- Architectural acoustics: study of sound waves distribution in variously shaped enclosed or partly enclosed spaces with effects of sound waves on objects of different shapes which are in their way. Mostly concentrated on how sound and buildings interact, including the behavior of sound in concert halls and auditoriums but also in office buildings, factories and homes.
- Bioacoustics: study of the use of sound by animals such as whales, dolphins, bats etc.
- Biomedical acoustics: study of the use of sound in medicine, for example the use of ultrasound for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.
- Biomedical acoustics: study of the sound propagation in the human environment, noise health effects and noise mitigation analysis.
- Musical acoustics: study of the physics of musical instruments.
- Nonlinear Acoustics: study of high amplitude waves and related phenomena, such as parametric arrays and sonic booms.
- Psychoacoustics: study of subjective reaction of living beings to sound, hearing, perception, and localization.
- Physiological acoustics: study of the mechanical, electrical and biochemical function of hearing in living organisms.
- Physical acoustics: study of the propagation of acoustic waves and of the detailed interaction of sound with materials and fluids including, for example, sonoluminescence (the emission of light by bubbles in a liquid excited by sound) and thermoacoustics (the interaction of sound and heat).
- Speech communication: study of how speech is produced, the analysis of speech signals and the properties of speech transmission, storage, recognition and enhancement.
- Structural acoustics and vibration: study of how sound and mechanical structures interact; for example, the transmission of sound through walls and the radiation of sound from vehicle panels.
- Transduction: study of how sound is generated and measured by loudspeakers, microphones, sonar projectors, hydrophones, ultrasonic transducers and sensors.
- Ultrasonics: study of high frequency sound, beyond the range of human hearing.
- Underwater acoustics: study of the propagation of sound in water.
END OF WORKING COPY FROM MAIN ARTICLE
NOTE: the listed categories in the Wikipedia article are (still) an almost exact match to the PACS categories. The PACS reference is quite comprehensive and very valuable for us. There are just s few minor alterations to titles, and the addition of "biomedical acoustics", an anomalously small field that can be easily merged out. The ASA committee categories are gratifyingly similar to these numbered publication-oriented categories. We have to watch out for "physical acoustics", a much used phrase but one which PACS apparently avoided, dividing its traditional content among general linear, non linear, etc. etc. 68.83.145.51 (talk) 05:46, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
Joe, I've edited your table to contain the PACS categories and only the PACS categories. I think this makes a good overview. As an added bonus, here's a use for the phrase "physical acoustics" that was a problem before. It becomes a column head along with "biological acoustics" and "acoustical engineering" (? engineering acoustics).
I've also put into a table, for our planning convenience, the other categories you had named and also several other Wikipedia articles I have been coming across on acoustics subjects. How about this for a groundrule for the two of us to aim to implement: if there's a Wikipedia article on it and if it's part of acoustics, let's link to it from the main article. Who knows this may be a regular Wiki guideline anyway. We will need several different lists and/or tables within our main article, not just one, to get this done.
Thus our article offers (1) a birds-eye taxonomic overview, (2) a convenient reference point to ALL Wikipedia articles in the acoustics field (or perhaps we should draw the line somewhere, not list every tiny article on every specialized topic), (3) fundamentals and (4) history.
What say you ? Adrian Pollock (talk) 04:27, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
| Physical acoustics | Biological acoustics | Acoustical engineering |
|---|---|---|
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|
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Joe, I've posted the other categories you gave to the table below, and I am also starting to add to this table any other acoustical articles I come across in Wikipedia. There could be lots more added to this I don't doubt.Adrian Pollock (talk) 03:34, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
| Suggested topic | Is there an article ? | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Acoustic emission | Yes, starter | Isolated entry at bottom of present article |
| Acoustic wave equation | Yes | Overlaps with "wave equation". The latter is the better article. |
| Audiology | Yes, ok | One of Joe's |
| Computational acoustics | No | |
| Hydrophone | Yes, short, lucid | One of Joe's |
| Lamb waves | Yes | Adrian's |
| Loudspeaker | Yes, long | Some controversy over ongoing editing. One of Joe's |
| Medical ultrasonography | Yes, good, overlap with ultrasound | |
| Medical ultrasonics | No, and no redirect | Good ! based on what our authors say. |
| Medical ultrasound | No, redirects to medical ultrasonography | |
| Microphone | Yes, excellent | One of Joe's |
| Music recording | No, redirects to | Sound recording and reproduction (good) |
| Noise control | Yes, ok, help sought | Talk page discusses categories |
| Noise pollution | Yes, quite short & crisp | |
| Sonar | Yes, long & strong | One of Joe's (?) |
| Sound | Yes, physics oriented | References 10 short articles that describe individual points of technical detail |
| Sound recording and reproduction | Yes, good | |
| Ultrasonics | Yes, claims ultrasonics as a trade term | Distinguishes it from "ultrasound". Recognizes that others use it differently. Does not view it as a subfield of acoustics. |
| Ultrasound | Yes, strong & broad | w. emphasis on medical apps |
| Wave equation | Yes | Excellent, right to the point |
