Construct · 2 fields · 4 citations

Where does corner frequency collide?

One name. Different field. Different construct. One map.

● jingle · one word, two constructs Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
cornerfrequency2 CONSTRUCTSFilter cornerZOBEL · FILTER CUTOFFSource cornerBRUNE · SOURCE SIZE

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2026

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Signal processing / electronics

Where a filter starts cutting the signal

In signal processing and electronics, the corner frequency (also break or cutoff frequency) is the frequency that marks the edge of a filter's passband: the point, conventionally where the power has fallen to half its passband value, at which the response begins to roll off and the asymptotes of a Bode plot change slope. The theory of such characteristic cutoff frequencies for electric filters was set out in Zobel's 1923 Theory and design of uniform and composite electric wave-filters, and modern texts such as Oppenheim, Willsky, and Nawab's Signals & systems define it as a property of a system's frequency response. The referent is a dividing frequency in a filter or transfer function, measured in hertz, and it has nothing to do with the size of an earthquake beyond sharing the word.[1][2]

Unit
The hertz value at which a filter's response begins to roll off
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Read from the frequency-response (Bode) magnitude curve as the half-power (−3 dB) point where the slope changes

Seismology

The spectral bend that encodes an earthquake's size

In seismology, the corner frequency is the bend in an earthquake's radiated displacement spectrum: the spectrum is flat at low frequency and falls off above a corner whose position encodes the size and duration of the rupture, with larger ruptures bending over at lower corners. Aki's 1967 Scaling law of seismic spectrum and Brune's 1970 Tectonic stress and the spectra of seismic shear waves from earthquakes tied this corner to the source dimension and, together with the seismic moment, to the stress drop. The referent is a diagnostic frequency of the seismic source spectrum, measured in hertz but interpreted as source size. It is a distinct construct from a filter's cutoff, sharing only the picture of a corner in a spectrum.[3][4]

Unit
The hertz value of the spectral corner, interpreted as source size
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Picked from the source displacement spectrum as the frequency where the flat low-frequency level rolls off into the high-frequency decay

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Nearby collisions

stress drop1 fields · 2 citationsanchor · a single construct in seismologybend1 fields · 1 citationsanchor · a standalone constructbreak2 fields · 4 citationsjingle · one word, two constructs

References

  1. Zobel, O. J. (1923). Theory and design of uniform and composite electric wave-filters. Bell System Technical Journal, 2(1), 1–46. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-7305.1923.tb00001.x
  2. Oppenheim, A. V., Willsky, A. S., & Nawab, S. H. (1997). Signals & systems (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 9780138147570
  3. Brune, J. N. (1970). Tectonic stress and the spectra of seismic shear waves from earthquakes. Journal of Geophysical Research, 75(26), 4997–5009. https://doi.org/10.1029/JB075i026p04997
  4. Aki, K. (1967). Scaling law of seismic spectrum. Journal of Geophysical Research, 72(4), 1217–1231. https://doi.org/10.1029/JZ072i004p01217

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