Polarization

Polarization or polarisation can refer to:

In the physical sciences

Polarization (waves), the orientation of oscillations in the plane perpendicular to a transversal wave's direction of travel
Dielectric polarization, charge separation in insulating materials:
- Polarization density, volume dielectric polarization
- Dipolar polarization, orientation of permanent dipoles
- Ionic polarization, displacement of ions in a crystal
- Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars polarization, slow long-distance charge separation in dielectric spectroscopy on inhomogeneous soft matter
- Polarization (corrosion), a change in the equilibrium potential of an electrochemical reaction
Spin polarization, the degree by which the spin of elementary particles is aligned to a given direction
Photon polarization, the mathematical link between wave polarization and spin polarization
Vacuum polarization, a process in which a background electromagnetic field produces virtual electron-positron pairs
Polarity in embryogenesis, during development, an embryo has an animal pole and a vegetal pole

Polarization of an Abelian variety, in the mathematics of complex manifolds
Polarization of an algebraic form, a technique for expressing a homogeneous polynomial in a simpler fashion by adjoining more variables

Polarization (politics), the process by which the public opinion divides and goes to the extremes
Polarization (psychology), the process whereby a social or political group is divided into opposing sub-groups
Social polarization
- Group polarization
- Attitude polarization
- Racial polarization, the process whereby a population with varyingly diverse ancestry is divided into distinct, homogenous racial groups