inversion (redirected from anastrophe)

inversion

1. Chem

a. the conversion of a dextrorotatory solution of sucrose into a laevorotatory solution of glucose and fructose by hydrolysis

b. any similar reaction in which the optical properties of the reactants are opposite to those of the products

2. Music

a. the process or result of transposing the notes of a chord (esp a triad) such that the root, originally in the bass, is placed in an upper part. When the bass note is the third of the triad, the resulting chord is the first inversion; when it is the fifth, the resulting chord is the second inversion

b. (in counterpoint) the modification of a melody or part in which all ascending intervals are replaced by corresponding descending intervals and vice versa

c. the modification of an interval in which the higher note becomes the lower or the lower one the higher

3. Pathol abnormal positioning of an organ or part, as in being upside down or turned inside out

4. Psychiatry

a. the adoption of the role or characteristics of the opposite sex

b. another word for homosexuality

5. Meteorol an abnormal condition in which the layer of air next to the earth's surface is cooler than an overlying layer

6. Computing an operation by which each digit of a binary number is changed to the alternative digit, as 10110 to 01001

7. Genetics a type of chromosomal mutation in which a section of a chromosome, and hence the order of its genes, is reversed

8. Logic the process of deriving the inverse of a categorial proposition

9. Maths a transformation that takes a point P to a point Pʹ such that OP?OPʹ = a², where a is a constant and P and Pʹ lie on a straight line through a fixed point O and on the same side of it

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inversion [in′vər·zhən]

(chemistry)

Change of a compound into an isomeric form.

(communications)

The process of scrambling speech for secrecy by beating the voice signal with a fixed, higher audio frequency and using only the difference frequencies.

(crystallography)

A change from one crystal polymorph to another. Also known as transformation.

(electricity)

The solution of certain problems in electrostatics through the use of the transformation in Kelvin's inversion theorem.

(genetics)

A type of chromosomal rearrangement in which two breaks take place in a chromosome and the orientation of the fragment between breaks rotates 180° before rejoining.

(geology)

Development of inverted relief through which anticlines are transformed into valleys and synclines are changed into mountains.

The occupancy by a lava flow of a ravine or valley that occurred in the side of a volcano.

A diagenetic process in which unstable minerals are converted to a more stable form without a change in chemical composition.

(mathematics)

Given a pointOlying in a plane or in space, a mapping of the plane or of space, excluding the pointO, into itself in which every point is mapped into its inverse point with respect to a circle or sphere centered atO.

The interchange of two adjacent members of a sequence.

(mechanical engineering)

The conversion of basic four-bar linkages to special motion linkages, such as parallelogram linkage, slider-crank mechanism, and slow-motion mechanism by successively holding fast, as ground link, members of a specific linkage (as drag link).

(medicine)

The act or process of turning inward or upside down.

(meteorology)

A departure from the usual decrease or increase with altitude of the value of an atmospheric property, most commonly temperature.

(optics)

The formation of an inverted image by an optical system.

(physics)

The simultaneous reflection of all three directions in space, so that each coordinate is replaced by the negative of itself. Also known as space inversion.

(solid-state physics)

The production of a layer at the surface of a semiconductor which is of opposite type from that of the bulk of the semiconductor, usually as the result of an applied electric field.

(thermodynamics)

A reversal of the usual direction of a variation or process, such as the change in sign of the expansion coefficient of water at 4°C, or a change in sign in the Joule-Thomson coefficient at a certain temperature.