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winding number

American  

noun

Mathematics.

  1. the number of times a closed curve winds around a point not on the curve.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

So the strip’s winding number, 1, is a topologically protected feature.

From Scientific American • Aug. 24, 2023

This winding number also reveals that every time it goes around the Dirac point, its geometric phase increases by π.

From Scientific American • Jun. 18, 2023

In other words, the winding number tells us that after a BEC's momentum makes a full circle, it comes back to the state it started in.

From Scientific American • Jun. 18, 2023

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.