Reflection coefficient

In physics and electrical engineering the reflection coefficient is a parameter that describes how much of an electromagnetic wave is reflected by an impedance discontinuity in the transmission medium. It is equal to the ratio of the amplitude of the reflected wave to the incident wave, with each expressed as phasors. For example, it is used in optics to calculate the amount of light that is reflected from a surface with a different index of refraction, such as a glass surface, or in an electrical transmission line to calculate how much of the electromagnetic wave is reflected by an impedance. The reflection coefficient is closely related to the transmission coefficient. The reflectance of a system is also sometimes called a "reflection coefficient".

Different specialties have different applications for the term.

In telecommunications, the reflection coefficient is the ratio of the complex amplitude of the reflected wave to that of the incident wave. In particular, at a discontinuity in a transmission line, it is the complex ratio of the electric field strength of the reflected wave (${\displaystyle E^{-}}$) to that of the incident wave (${\displaystyle E^{+}}$). This is typically represented with a ${\displaystyle \Gamma }$ (capital gamma) and can be written as:

...
Wikipedia