a. Radio a method of reception in which the incoming signal is mixed with a receiver-generated oscillation of the same frequency as the carrier wave, so that no beats (beatn.1 II.9) are produced; cf. homodynen.;b. (Physics) a condition or arrangement in which two oscillating signals have equal frequencies, or in which the harmonics of one signal form harmonic intervals with those of the other, producing no beats.
Often attributive.
1920
In these experiments the waves were received by the zero beat method.
H. J. Van der Bijl, Thermionic Vacuum Tube ix. 364
1928
If the local generated frequency is tuned to exactly the same frequency as the received signals..the condition of ‘zero beat’ is said to exist.
G. E. Sterling & R. S. Kruse, Radio Manual iv. 149
1960
Suppose we try to tune two strings so that they are an octave apart by adjusting them to ‘zero beat’ while playing them softly.
A. H. Benade, Horns, Strings, & Harmony vi. 130
1982
With this arrangement, one can explore the zero-beat situation (when frequencies are matched) as well as a variety of non-zero-beat situations.
American Journal of Physicsvol. 50 137/1
2015
Tune the Cub to zero beat on the receiver while transmitting a signal.
J. Purdum & D. Kidder, Arduino Projects Amateur Radio xv. 344
zero beat typically occurs about 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.
zero beat is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.
Frequency of zero beat, n., 1920–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
Decade
Frequency per million words
1920
0.044
1930
0.04
1940
0.036
1950
0.033
1960
0.032
1970
0.022
1980
0.015
1990
0.01
2000
0.0075
2010
0.0049
Originally published as part of the entry for zero, n. & adj.