# Is there a specific branch of physics that studies waves?

Is there a branch of physics that studies waves and how they propagate through air, wires etc.?

• Actually, almost all of physics studies waves in one way, or another. Many of the basic properties of harmonic oscillators and linear waves can be found over and over again in different physical systems, which means that a central part of the material physicist have to learn concerns these fundamental physical effects of harmonic motion. So it's more the other way around: every physicist has a pretty good notion of waves, no matter what they do in detail. Sep 27, 2014 at 15:00
• You might be interested in volume 3 of the Berkeley Physics Course, entitled Waves. Sep 27, 2014 at 16:55

Waves are in nearly every part of physics: sound waves, light waves, ocean waves, all of hydrodynamics really, all of magnetohydrodynamics too, stellar pulsations, gravitational waves, alternating current, coupled oscillators of any sort$\ldots$ The list goes on.