Dictionary Definition
softening adj : having a softening or soothing
effect especially to the skin [syn: demulcent, emollient, salving] n : the process of
becoming softer; "refrigeration delayed the softening of the
fruit"; "he observed the softening of iron by heat"
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Verb
softening- present participle of soften
Extensive Definition
Softening is a numerical trick used in N-body
techniques to prevent numerical divergences when a particle
comes too close to another (and the force goes to infinity). This is
obtained by modifying the gravitational
potential of each particle as
- \Phi = - \frac
where \epsilon is the softening parameter. The
value of the softening parameter should be set small enough to keep
simulations
realistic.
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abatement, abating, allaying, allayment, alleviating, alleviation, alleviative, allowance, altering, analgesia, analgesic, anesthesia, anesthetic, anesthetizing, anodyne, appeasement, assuagement, assuaging, assuasive, attenuation, attrition, balmy, balsamic, benumbing, blunting, bounding, calming, cathartic, chastening, cleansing, color, cushioning, dampening, damping, deadening, debilitation, decontamination,
demulcent, demulsion, devitalization, dilution, diminishing, diminishment, diminution, dulcification, dulling, ease, easement, easing, effemination, emollient, enervation, enfeeblement, evisceration, exhaustion, extenuating, extenuating
circumstances, extenuation, extenuative, extenuatory, falling-off,
fatigue, gilding, gloss, hushing, inanition, languishment, laxation, leniency, lenitive, lessening, letdown, letup, lightening, limitative, limiting, loosening, lulling, mellowing, mitigating, mitigation, mitigative, mitigatory, modificatory, modifying, modulation, modulatory, mollification, mollifying, numbing, pacification, padding, pain-killing, palliation, palliative, purgative, qualification, qualificative, qualificatory, qualifying, quietening, quieting, reducing, reduction, relaxation, relaxing, relief, relieving, remedial, remedy, remission, restricting, restrictive, salving, slackening, softening-up,
soothing, subduement, subduing, tempering, thinning, tranquilization,
varnish, weakening, whitewash, whitewashing