richtungsgebunden

Richtungsgebunden is a German adjective meaning bound to a direction or dependent on orientation. It is formed from Richtungen (directions) and gebunden (bound). In technical language it describes phenomena, properties, or responses that change with the direction relative to a reference frame. The more common neutral term is richtungsabhängig, but richtungsgebunden is used when the text emphasizes a fixed orientation or a direct binding to a particular direction.

In science and engineering, the concept appears in discussions of anisotropy, where materials or systems exhibit different properties along different axes. For example, the mechanical strength, electrical conductivity, or magnetic permeability of a crystal may be richtungsgebunden to a specific crystallographic axis. In sensor technology, orientation- or direction-sensitive devices may be described as having richtungsgebundene responses.

In other domains, biological systems or signal-processing contexts may describe directional sensitivity as richtungsgebunden, although the term is less common there. The essential idea is that a property is not isotropic (the same in all directions) but tied to or constrained by a particular orientation.

Richtungsgebunden is synonymous in many usages with direction-dependent properties, but it emphasizes a binding or reference to a chosen direction, rather than a general dependency on direction. Related terms include Richtungsabhängigkeit and Anisotropie.