polarization

plural polarizations · alternative polarisation

1. countableuncountableThe production or the condition of polarity.

   The subtopologies that we discovered include: a glide-symmetric analog of the quantum spin Hall effect, an hourglass-flow topology (exemplified by our recently-proposed KHgSb material class), and quantized non-Abelian polarizations.

   2016, A. Alexandradinata, Zhijun Wang, B. Andrei Bernevig, “Topological Insulators from Group Cohomology”, in arXiv

   1. countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe grouping of opinions into two extremes.

      Polarization is tearing at the seams of democracies around the world, from Brazil and India to Poland and Turkey.

      2019 October 1, Thomas Carothers, Andrew O’Donohue, “How to Understand the Global Spread of Political Polarization”, in Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, archived from the original on 14 Feb 2023

      2 more examples

      What frazzled pollsters, surly op-ed pages, snarling cable talkfests and issue-starved candidates for office need is a fresh source of hot-eyed national polarization.

      2004 June 2, William Safire, “Abolish the Penny”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2020

      The polarization of wealth and the polarization of attitudes to diversity are not unrelated. A key reason for popular hostility to immigrants is that to many people, particularly within working-class communities, immigration has become a symbol of unacceptable change.

      2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 10 Oct 2021, retrieved 28 Sep 2013

   2. countableuncountablenatural sciencesThe production of polarized light; the direction in which the electric field of an electromagnetic wave points.

      We don’t usually notice polarization because direct sunlight and light from ordinary incandescent and fluorescent bulbs is unpolarized: it contains equal mixtures of horizontally and vertically polarized light.

      2013 July 16, skullsinthestars, “Simple fun with polarizers!”, in Skulls in the Stars, archived from the original on 05 Apr 2022

   3. countableuncountablechemistryThe separation of positive and negative charges in a nucleus, atom, molecule or system.