Quelques Propos sur le Logarithme et le Decibel

Auteurs-es

  • Michel Maurin INRETS - LTE, 69675 Bron Cedex, France

Résumé

Le décibel est d’usage courant en acoustique, cependant il s’agit d’une construction mathématique qui peut appeler de nombreux commentaires historiques et méthodologiques, et peut-être aussi quelques sujets d’interrogation. En particulier la définition s’appuie sur le logarithme pour définir les niveaux de grandeurs mais l’on rencontre différentes autres raisons pour expliquer ou justifier cette présence. Après un bref rappel des propriétés essentielles du logarithme le texte aborde les principaux arguments qui sont régulièrement évoqués, du ressort des mathématiques, de la physique et des sciences humaines, sans oublier un point de vue environnementaliste qui renouvelle le regard porté sur le décibel. Les conclusions sont assez sévères quant à la pertinence de loi de Fechner pour expliquer la définition logarithmique des niveaux.

Fichiers supplémentaires

Publié-e

1999-12-01

Comment citer

1.
Maurin M. Quelques Propos sur le Logarithme et le Decibel. Canadian Acoustics [Internet]. 1 déc. 1999 [cité 2 oct. 2024];27(4):9-18. Disponible à: https://jcaa.caa-aca.ca/index.php/jcaa/article/view/1252

Numéro

Vol. 27 No. 4 (1999)

Rubrique

Articles techniques

Licence

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