a signed representation of electrical or mechanical variables in the
phase plane in order to situate the different modes for energy transfer.
This term can be used both for power electronics and electrical
machines. For electrical variables, the four-quadrant operation is
defined by the voltageâ€“current (or currentâ€“ voltage) characteristic
with the two variables expressed as instantaneous or mean values. For
mechanical variables, the term is defined by the torqueâ€“speed (or
speedâ€“torque) characteristic with the same time-domain representation
as previously explained. The energy transfer is defined with electrical
power in the voltageâ€“current curve and with mechanical power in the
torqueâ€“speed curve. The four-quadrant operation is related to
reversible power in electromechanical systems.
For example, in the case of power electronics, the four-quadrant operation is defined only with electrical variables to visualize the way of energy transfer in a static converter. For electrical machines, the same operation can
be defined with electrical variables at the input (motor) or at the output (generator) and also with mechanical variables at the output (motor) or at the input (generator).
the four combinations of forward/reverse rotation and forward/reverse
torque of which a regenerative drive is capable. These are: motoring:
forward rotation/forward torque; regeneration: forward rotation/reverse
torque; motor: reverse rotation/reverse torque; and regeneration:
reverse rotation/forward torque. four-wave mixing a nonlinear optical
phenomenon in which four optical beams interact inside nonlinear media or photorefractive crystals. When four beams of coherent electromagnetic radiation intersect inside a nonlinear or photorefractive medium, they will, in general, form six interference patterns and induce six volume refractive index gratings in the medium. The presence of the index gratings will affect the propagation of these four beams. This may lead to energy coupling. The coupling of the four optical
beams is referred to as four-wave mixing. In one of the most useful four-wave mixing configurations, the four beams form two pairs of counterpropagating beams. In this particular configuration, some of the refractive index gratings are identical in their grating wavevectors. This leads to the generation of phase conjugate waves. Four-wave mixing
is a convenient method for the generation of phase conjugated waves.