Doppler effect for pulses and their representation in the plane (x, t)

Abstract

The physics textbooks at university level generally discuss the Doppler effect as an issue related only to harmonic waves, however, in broader terms the effect is linked to compressions and expansions in the domain of space and time for pulses of any kind. In this work, we perform an analytical study on the effect that introduces the movement of the source on the spatial and temporary extension of the pulse. We also use diagrams in the plane (x, t) to analyze the contraction (or expansion), both temporal and spatial, of the pulse caused by the movement of the source, the detector and the refector.

Doppler effect; pulses; spatial extension; temporal extension