Potential density
Potential density is a dynamically important property: for static stability potential density must decrease upward. If it doesn't, a fluid parcel displaced upward finds itself lighter than its neighbors, and continues to move upward; similarly, a fluid parcel displaced downward would be heavier than its neighbors. This is true even if the density of the fluid decreases upward. In stable conditions (potential density decreasing upward) motion along surfaces of constant potential density (isopycnals) is energetically favored over flow across these surfaces (diapycnal flow), so most of the motion within a 3-D geophysical fluid takes place along these 2-D surfaces.
Acoustic metamaterial
The mass density (or just "density") of a material is defined as mass per unit volume and is expressed in grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm). In all three classic states of matter—gas, liquid, or solid—the density varies with a change in temperature or pressure, and gases are the most susceptible to those changes. The spectrum of densities is wide-ranging: from 10 g/cm for neutron stars, 1.00 g/cm for water to 1.2×10 g/cm for air. Also relevant here are area density which is mass over a (two-dimensional) area, linear density - mass over a one-dimensional line, and relative density, which is a density divided by the density of a reference material, such as water.