Wave equation
Ecuación de onda
- Date
- 1746 · confidence medium
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Jean le Rond d'Alembert
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
D'Alembert derives, from the problem of the vibrating string, the differential equation describing how waves propagate through space and time, along with his method of solution.
The physical interpretation of d'Alembert's solutions sparked a long controversy with Euler and Daniel Bernoulli over which functions could represent a wave.
What it led to
- Mathematical physics of sound, light and water waves
- Partial differential equations as a general tool in physics
- Debate with Euler and Daniel Bernoulli over the nature of the solution