thermal noise

American  

noun

Thermodynamics, Electricity.

1. a wide spectrum of electromagnetic noise appearing in electronic circuits and devices as a result of the temperature-dependent random motions of electrons and other charge carriers.

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thermal noise British  

noun

1. electrical noise caused by thermal agitation of conducting electrons

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Etymology

Origin of thermal noise

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Operators will also point the telescope at starless areas of sky to understand the “dark current” created by thermal noise in the instrument itself.

From Science Magazine

One of the team’s key advances was to tune the thickness of the magnets to balance stability with thermal noise and introduce stochasticity in a controllable way.

From Nature

In this scenario, added thermal noise counterintuitively helps a sensor pick up a signal.

From Scientific American

A signal below the threshold for triggering a sensor – but still close to it – will resonate by chance with a portion of thermal noise that is the same frequency.

From Scientific American

All the previous machines have used thermal noise to produce random numbers.

From BBC