Lebegés

Lebegés refers to the state of remaining suspended in air or another medium without visible support. It covers true levitation—where no contact forces act on the object—and hover states produced by balancing different forces. The term is Hungarian, corresponding to levitation or hovering in English.

Common mechanisms include buoyancy, which lifts less-dense objects in fluids; aerodynamic lift, enabling hovering aircraft and rotorcraft; magnetic levitation, countered by magnetic fields and, in superconductors, flux pinning; electrostatic levitation; acoustic levitation, using standing sound waves; and optical levitation, where intense light traps microscopic particles.

Applications range from engineering and transportation to science demonstrations. Magnetic levitation underpins maglev trains and contactless handling in laboratories. Acoustic and optical levitation support non-contact manipulation of small samples in research. In nature, some animals, notably hummingbirds, achieve sustained hovering through rapid wingbeats and aerodynamics.

Etymology: Lebegés is the Hungarian term for hovering or levitation, closely related to similar concepts in other languages.