The Beginning of the

Quantum Physics

Blackbody Radiation and
Plancks Hypothesis
Beginning of the Quantum Physics
Some Problems with Classical Physics
Vastly different values of electrical
resistance
Temperature Dependence of Resistivity
of metals
Blackbody Radiation
Photoelectric effect
Discrete Emission Lines of Atoms
Constancy of speed of light

Blackbody Radiation:
Solids heated to very high
temperatures emit visible light
(glow)
Incandescent Lamps (tungsten
filament)
The color changes with
temperature
At high temperatures emission color is
whitish, at lower temperatures color is
more reddish, and finally disappear
Radiation is still present, but
invisible
Can be detected as heat
Heaters; Night Vision Goggles
Blackbody Radiation: Observations

Experiment:
Focus the suns rays or direct a parabolic mirror
with a heating spiral onto combustible material
the material will flare up and burn

Materials absorb
as well as emit radiation
Blackbody Radiation
All object at finite temperatures radiate
electromagnetic waves (emit radiation)
Objects emit a spectrum of radiation depending on
their temperature and composition
From classical point of view, thermal radiation
originates from accelerated charged particles in the
atoms near surface of the object
Blackbody Radiation
A blackbody is an object that absorbs
all radiation incident upon it
Its emission is universal, i.e. independent of the
nature of the object
Blackbodies radiate, but do not reflect and so
are black

Blackbody Radiation is EM radiation
emitted by blackbodies
Blackbody Radiation
There are no absolutely blackbodies in nature this
is idealization
But some objects closely mimic blackbodies:
Carbon black or Soot (reflection is <<1%)
The closest objects to the ideal blackbody is a cavity
with small hole (and the universe shortly after the
big bang)
Entering radiation has little chance of
escaping, and mostly absorbed by the
walls. Thus the hole does not reflect
incident radiation and behaves like an
ideal absorber, and looks black
Kirchoff's Law of Thermal Radiation (1859)
absorptivity

is the ratio of the energy absorbed by the wall to

the energy incident on the wall, for a particular wavelength.
The emissivity of the wall

is defined as the ratio of emitted

energy to the amount that would be radiated if the wall were a
perfect black body at that wavelength.
At thermal equilibrium, the emissivity of a body (or surface)
equals its absorptivity

=

If this equality were not obeyed, an object could never reach
thermal equilibrium. It would either be heating up or cooling
down.
For a blackbody

= 1
Therefore, to keep your frank warm or your ice cream cold at a
baseball game, wrap it in aluminum foil
What color should integrated circuits be to keep them cool?
Blackbody Radiation Laws
Emission is continuous



The total emitted energy increases with temperature, and
represents, the total intensity (I
total
) the energy per unit time
per unit area or power per unit area of the blackbody
emission at given temperature, T.
It is given by the Stefan-Boltzmann Law


= 5.67010
-8
W/m
2
-K
4
To get the emission power, multiply Intensity I
total
by area A
4
T I
total
o =
Blackbody Radiation
The maximum shifts to shorter wavelengths
with increasing temperature
the color of heated body changes from red to orange to
yellow-white with increasing temperature






5780 K is the temperature of the Sun
Blackbody Radiation
Blackbody Radiation
The wavelength of maximum intensity
per unit wavelength is defined by the
Wiens Displacement Law:


b = 2.89810
-3
m/K is a constant
For, T ~ 6000 K,
b T =
max

nm 483
6000
10 898 . 2
3
max
=

Average energy of a harmonic oscillator is <E>

Intensity of EM radiation emitted by classical
harmonic oscillators at wavelength per unit
wavelength:

Or per unit frequency :


Blackbody Radiation Laws:
Classical Physics View
E
c
T I
3
2
2
) , (
tv
v =
E
c
T I
3
2
) , (

t
=
Blackbody Radiation Laws:
Classical Physics View
In classical physics, the energy of an oscillator is
continuous, so the average is calculated as:




is the Boltzmann distribution
T k
dE e P
dE e EP
dE E P
dE E EP
E
B
T k
E
T k
E
B
B
= = =
}
}
}
}

0
0
0
0
0
0
) (
) (
T k E
B
=
T k
E
B
e P E P

=
0
) (
Blackbody Radiation:
Classical Physics View
This gives the Rayleigh-Jeans Law


Agrees well with experiment long wavelength (low
frequency) region
Predicts infinite intensity at very short wavelengths
(higher frequencies) Ultraviolet Catastrophe
Predicts diverging total emission by black bodies

No fixes could be found using classical
physics
T k
c
E
c
T I
T k
c
E
c
T I
B
B
2
2
3
2
3 3
2 2
) , ( ,
2 2
) , (
tv tv
v

t
= = = =
Plancks Hypothesis
Max Planck postulated that
A system undergoing simple harmonic motion with
frequency can only have energies



where n = 1, 2, 3,
and h is Plancks constant
h = 6.6310
-34
J-s
v c nh n E = =
Plancks Theory
v v v
v
h nh h n E
nh E
= + = A
=
) 1 (
J 10 2 3000 J 10 63 . 6
30 1 34
~ = A
= A
s s E
h E v
AE is a quantum of energy

For v = 3kHz
Plancks Theory
As before:
Now energy levels are discrete,

So

Sum to obtain average energy:




E
c
T I
3
2
2
) , (
tv
v =
1
0
0
0
0

= >= =<

T k
n
T k
n
n
T k
n
B B
B
e e P
e P n
n E
c c
c
c
c
c
1
2
1
2
) , (
3
2
3
2

=
T k
h
T k
B B
e
h
c
e
c
T I
v c
v tv c tv
v
v c nh =

=
0
0
0
) (
n
T k
n
T k
n
B
B
e P
e P
E P
c
c
Blackbody Radiation




c is the speed of light, k
B
is Boltzmanns
constant, h is Plancks constant, and T is
the temperature
1 exp
2
) (
2
2

=
T k
h
h
c
I
B
v
v tv
v
Plancks Theory
| |
T
c c
T k
T k
h
c
h
I
T k h T k h T k h
B
B
B B B
2
2
2
3
2
3
2
1 1
1 2
) (
/ 1 / exp , : small for
v
v
tv
v
v t
v
v v v v
=
+
=
+ ~ <<
| | 1 / exp
1 2
) (
2
3

=
T k h c
h
I
B
v
v t
v
Plancks Theory
| | 1 / exp
1 2
) (
2
3

=
T k h c
h
I
B
v
v t
v
| |
(

=
(

=
>> >>
T k
h
c
h
T k
h
c
h
I
T k h T k h
B
B
B B
v v t
v
v t
v
v v v
exp
2
exp
1 2
) (
1 / exp , : large for
2
3
2
3
High Frequency - hv >> kT
At room temperature, 300 K, kT= 1/40 eV
At = 1 m:
eV
e
h
J
c
h h
24 . 1
10 6 . 1
10 99 . 1
10 2 ~ 10 99 . 1
10
10 3
10 63 . 6
19
19
19 19
6
8
34
=

=
=

= =

v

v
1 6 . 49 40 24 . 1 >> = =
kT
hv
At 300 K:
Blackbody Radiation from the Sun
Planks curve

max
Stefan-Boltzmann Law
I
BB
~ T
4

I
BB
= oT
4

Stefan-Boltzmann constant
o =5.6710
-8
J/m
2
K
4

More generally:
I = coT
4
c is the emissivity

Wien's Displacement Law

peak
T = 2.89810
-3
m K

At T = 5778 K:

peak
= 5.01510
-7
m = 5,015 A

50% of energy emitted from the sun in visible range
Appears as white light above the atmosphere, peaked
Appears as yellow to red light due to Rayleigh scattering by the
atmosphere
Earth radiates infrared electromagnetic (EM) radiation
Energy Balance of
Electromagnetic Radiation
Glass
Prism
White light is
made of a range
of wave lengths
29
Step 4: Calculate energy emitted by Earth
Earth emits terrestrial long wave IR radiation
Assume Earth emits as a blackbody.
Calculate energy emission per unit time (Watts)
Blackbody Radiation
Notice color change as turn up power on light bulb.
Greenhouse Effect
Visible light passes
through atmosphere
and warms planets
surface

Atmosphere absorbs
infrared light from
surface, trapping heat
Why is it cooler on a mountain tops than in the valley?
Albedo and Atmosphere Affect
Planet Temperature

Albedo, a
( )
1/ 4
1 a =
t, optical
depth
( )
1/ 4
1 t + =
Temp. Reduction due
to Reflection
Greenhouse Temp.
Increase Factor
Venus 0.7 0.74 = 70 2.9
Earth 0.3 0.91
~ 1
= 1.19
Mars 0.25 0.93
~ 0
= 1

E
Sun
Sun E
atm
E E
atm
E E Sun Sun
E
E
r
R
a T T
L
T R
L
T R T R a
r
R
2
) 1 ( ) 1 (
depth optical the , ,
1
1
4
randomized is emission IR of direction he in which t path free mean the is
), ( 4 4 ) 1 (
4
`
4 / 1 4 / 1
4 2
4 2 4 2
2
2
t
t
t
o t
o t o t
t
t
+ =
=
+
=
+
=

Einsteins Photon Interpretation of

Blackbody Radiation
a n k a n k a n k t z k y k x k t z y x y / , / , / , cos sin sin sin ~ ) , , , (
3 3 2 2 1 1 2 2 1
t t t e = = =
t kx A t kx A t kx A t x y e e e cos sin 2 ) sin( ) sin( ) , ( = + + =
Two sine waves traveling in opposite directions create a standing wave
For EM radiation reflecting off a perfect metal, the reflected amplitude
equals the incident amplitude and the phases differ by t rad
E = 0 at the wall
For allowed modes between two walls separated by a: sin(kx) = 0 at x = 0, a
This can only occur when, ka = nt, or k = nt/a, n = 1,2,3
In terms of the wavelength, k = 2t/ = nt/a, or /2 = a/n
This is for 1D, for 2D, a standing wave is proportional to:
For 3D a standing wave is proportional to:
a n k a n k t y k x k t y x y / , / , cos sin sin ~ ) , , (
2 2 1 1 2 1
t t e = =
EM Modes:
Density of EM Modes, 1
) , , ( ) , , ( ) , , (
3 2 1 3 2 1 3 2 1 3 2 1
n n n
a a
n
a
n
a
n k k k z k y k x k k
t t t t
= = = + + =

May represent allowed wave vectors k by points on a unit lattice in a 3D

abstract number space
k = 2t/. But f = c, so f = c/ = c/[(/2t))(2t)] = c/[(1/k)((2t)]=ck/2t
f is proportional to k = n t/a in 1D and can generalize to higher dimensions:
,
2 2
1
| | to al proportion is
2
3
2
2
2
1
2
3
2
2
2
1
n
a
c
ck f
n
a
n n n
a
k k k k k f
= =
+ + = + + = =
t
t t

where, n is the distance in abstract number space from the origin (0,0,0)
To the point (n
1
,n
2
n
3
)
The number of modes between f and (f+df) is the number of points
in number space with radii between n and (n+dn) in which n
1,
n
2,
n
3,
>
0, which is 1/8 of the total number of points in a shell with inner
radius n and outer radius (n+dn), multiplied by 2, for a total factor of
1/4


The first factor arises because modes with positive and negative
n correspond to the same modes
The second factor arises because there are two modes with
perpendicular polarization (directions of oscillation of E) for each
value of f
Since the density of points in number space is 1 (one point per unit
volume), the number of modes between f and (f+df) is the number of
points dN in number space in the positive octant of a shell with inner
radius n and outer radius (n+dn) multiplied by 2
dN = 2 dV', where dV = where dV is the relevant volume in numbr
space
The volume of a complete shell is the area of the shell multiplied by
its thickness, 4t n
2
dn
The number of modes with associated radii in number space
between n and (n+dn) is, therefore, dN = 2 dV = (2)(1/8)4t n
2
dn = t
n
2
dn
Density of EM Modes, 2
Density of EM Modes, 3
2
3
3
2 2
8 )
2
( )
2
(
2 2
,
2
f
c
a
c
a
f
c
a
df
dn
n
df
dN
c
a
df
dn
and f
c
a
n So
n
a
c
f
t t t = = =
= =
=
df
dn
n
df
dn n
df
dN
2
2
t
t
= =
The density of modes is the number of modes per unit frequency:
This may be expressed in terms of f once n and dn/df are so expressed




2
3
8
f
c df
dN t
=
This is density of modes in a volume a
3

For a unit volume, the density of states is:
Modes Density
How many EM modes per unit frequency are there in a cubic cavity
with sides a = 10 cm at a wavelength of = 1 micron = 10
-6
m?

f = c, f = c/ = 3x10
8
/10
-6
= 3x10
14

84 10 4 . 8 10
3
8
) 10 3 (
) 10 3 (
) 10 (
8
8
1 ) 24 28 3 ( 2 14
3 8
3 1
2
3
3
= = =

=
=
+

t
t
t
df
dN
f
c
a
df
dN
Blackbody Radiation
) ( = ) ( E
df
dN
f u ) (
) ( = ) ( = E
df
dN c
f u
c
f I
4
) (
2 2
1
) (
Einstein argued that the intensity of black body radiation I(f),
reflects the state of thermal equilibrium of the radiation field
The energy density (energy per unit volume per unit frequency) within the
black body is:
The intensity is given by:
Since (a) only the flux is directed out of the black body
and (b) the average component of the velocity of light In a direction normal to the
surface is
, where is the average energy of a mode of EM radiation
at frequency f and temperature T
) (E
Blackbody Radiation
1 1
0
0
0
0

= >= =<

T k
hf
T k
n
T k
n
n
T k
n
B B B
B
e
hf
e e P
e P n
n E
c c
c
c
c
c
) ( = E
df
dN c
f I
4
) (
But
and , as before
So
| | 1 / exp
1 2
) (
2
3

=
T k h c
h
I
B
v
v t
v




2
3
8
f
c df
dN t
=




... 3 , 2 , 1 , 0 , = = n n E c
hf
= c