Related papers: Exploiting the Planck-Einstein Relation
A history and drama of the development of quantum probability theory is outlined starting from the discovery of the Plank's constant exactly a 100 years ago. It is shown that before the rise of quantum mechanics 75 years ago, the quantum…
The Planck's radiation law for the blackbody radiation spectrum was capable to explain the experimentally-measured blackbody spectrum. In order to get this result, Planck proposed his radiation law in a two-fold way: 1) by an \textit{ad…
As we mark the centenary of Albert Einstein's seminal contribution to both quantum mechanics and special relativity, we approach another anniversary--that of Einstein's foundation of the quantum theory of solids. But 100 years on, the same…
Planck's constant was introduced as a fundamental scale in the early history of quantum mechanics. We find a modern approach where Planck's constant is absent: it is unobservable except as a constant of human convention. Despite long…
Albert Einstein postulated the equivalence of energy and mass, developed the theory of special relativity, explained the photoelectric effect, and described Brownian motion in five papers, all published in 1905, 100 years ago. With these…
We sketch the foundations of classical electrodynamics, in particular the transition that took place when Einstein, in 1915, succeeded to formulate general relativity. In 1916 Einstein demonstrated that, with a choice of suitable variables…
Around year 2000 the centenary of Planck's thermal radiation formula awakened interest in the origins of quantum theory, traditionally traced back to the Planck's conference on 14 December 1900 at the Berlin Academy of Sciences. A lot of…
A universal energy eigenvalue equation is proposed in this paper. It is proven that the unique set of eigenfunctions or preferred basis exists for any non-isolated sub-system. Applying the new eigenvalue equation to the relative motion of a…
In 1907, Einstein suggested an experiment with flying atoms for corroborating time dilation. In that paper, the flying atom was conceived as a flying clock: the reference to the Doppler effect was only indirect (the experiments by Stark to…
This article examines the consequences of the existence of an upper particle momentum limit in quantum electrodynamics, where this momentum limit is the Planck momentum. The method used is Fourier analysis as developed already by Fermi in…
In two respects Ludwig Boltzmann was a pioneer of quantum mechanics. First because in his statistical interpretation of the second law of thermodynamics he introduced the theory of probability into a fundamental law of physics and thus…
The Planck constant ($\hbar$) plays a pivotal role in quantum physics. Historically, it has been proposed as postulate, part of a genius empirical relationship $E=\hbar \omega$ in order to explain the intensity spectrum of the blackbody…
The idea about a quantum nature of Planck's blackbody radiation law is deeply rooted in minds of most physicists. Einstein's work, in which the coefficients of spontaneous and induced emission were introduced, has always been regarded as a…
Heisenberg introduced his famous uncertainty relations in a seminal 1927 paper entitled "The Physical Content of Quantum Kinematics and Mechanics". He motivated his arguments with a gedanken experiment, a gamma ray microscope to measure the…
Planck's law for black-body radiation marks the origin of quantum theory and is discussed in all introductory (or advanced) courses on this subject. However, the question whether Planck really implied quantisation is debated among…
Satyendra Nath Bose is one of the great Indian scientists. His remarkable work on the black body radiation or derivation of Planck's law led to quantum statistics, in particular, the statistics of photon. Albert Einstein applied Bose's idea…
Although Planck's constant h is currently regarded as the elementary quantum of action appearing in quantum theory, it can also be interpreted as the multiplicative scale factor setting the scale of classical zero-point radiation appearing…
In this paper the Planck function is derived in the frequency domain using the method of oscillators. It is also presented in the wavelength domain and in the wave number domain. The latter is mainly used in spectroscopy for studying…
We give an example in which it is possible to understand quantum statistics using classical concepts. This is done by studying the interaction of charged matter oscillators with the thermal and zeropoint electromagnetic fields…
James Clerk Maxwell unknowingly discovered a correct relativistic, quantum theory for the light quantum, forty-three years before Einstein postulated the photon's existence. In this theory, the usual Maxwell field is the quantum wave…