formfactor

Noun

1. Any of various calculations representing the shape or distribution of a physical property within a microsystem such as an elementary particle or atomic nucleus.
   • This electromagnetic structure caused by the cloud of virtual states in the transition region is characterized by a specific formfactor, which is called the transition formfactor. - 1992, Soviet Physics, Uspekhi -...
   • Dilepton spectroscopy could also give interesting information on the electromagnetic formfactor for baryons where the situation is more complicated since for these the time-like sector is not accessible below an...
   • Using the known values of the nucleon formfactors the pion formfactor can in principle be determined as the only free parameter in a fit to the cross section of electro-π⁺-production. - 2006, G. Höhler, Springer Tracts...
2. The value of 4π * area / perimeter², used to measure how well an irregular shape approximates an idealized regular shape, and used to estimate surface area of irregular shapes.
   • the surface area of the ellipsoid fitted to the measured length and breadth is divided by the formfactor to estimate the surface area of the irregular object - 1989, Encyclopedia of Materials Science and Engineering,...
   • The formfactor was chosen because it is sensitive to both the elongation of a region and the jaggedness of its border. - 2012, Hans Georg Bock, Willi Jäger, Michael J. Winckler, Scientific Computing and Cultural...
   • Formfactor is widely used because it is easy to calculate, based on measurements of area and perimeter that must often be carried out anyway. - 2017, F. Brent Neal, John C. Russ, Measuring Shape, page 118118:
3. The ratio of energy radiating out from one patch to the energy absorbed by another patch, used in the calculation of radiosity.
   • The formfactor between patches defines the fraction of energy (light) leaving a patch which arrives at the other. The formfactor has proven to be the most computationally expensive part of the radiosity computation for...
   • Formfactor calculation is a very important but time-consuming step when determining a radiosity solution. - 2012, Björn Engquist, Lennart Johnsson, Michael Hammill, Simulation and Visualization on the Grid, page 101:
   • For all patches so called formfactors are calculated, that are needed to determine these intensities. - 2013, Kadi Bouatouch, Christian Bouville, Photorealism in Computer Graphics, page 116:
4. An industry standard that represents the size and shape of a circuit board.
   • In the case of embedded RTP systems the most difficult constraint lies in the area of system formfactor limitations . - 1989, Electronic Engineering - Volume 61, page S-59:
   • Variants include the Baby-AT formfactor. - 1997, Boot - Volume 2, page 65:
   • Most current consumer motherboards are based on the ATX formfactor, which in turn evolved from the Baby AT formfactor. - 2002 November, “Meet the Formfactors”, in Maximum PC, page 48: