What is the term used for the rate at which digital pulses are transmitted?

The term that specifically refers to the rate at which digital pulses are transmitted is "baud rate." Baud rate indicates the number of signal changes or symbols sent per second in a communication channel. In digital communications, each symbol could represent one or more bits, depending on the encoding scheme used.

While "bit rate" measures the actual number of bits transmitted per second and can sometimes coincide with baud rate, especially in simple binary communications (where one symbol represents one bit), baud rate is crucial in contexts where more complex signaling schemes are in play. Therefore, understanding baud rate is essential for comprehensively grasping digital transmission rates and the efficiency of data transfer methods.

Other terms such as "transfer rate" and "nyquist rate" relate to broader or different concepts in communication and data transfer, which do not specifically encapsulate the meaning of pulse transmission rate like baud rate does. As such, in the context of the question, baud rate specifically addresses the rate of digital pulse transmission.