Dr Faustus of Modern Physics - Department of Speech, Music and ...
Dr Faustus of Modern Physics - Department of Speech, Music and ...
Dr Faustus of Modern Physics - Department of Speech, Music and ...
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Chapter 35<br />
Radiation: Planck<br />
Where the senses fail us, reason must step in. (Galileo)<br />
35.1 Schrödinger<br />
• That the photoelectric effect...<strong>of</strong>fers the greatest conceptual difficulty for the<br />
achievement <strong>of</strong> the a classical theory is becoming ever more evident to me.<br />
Unfortunately I can find so far...no solution at all to the problem. I mean I se<br />
no concrete idea or calculation that could bring one closer to underst<strong>and</strong>ing<br />
it. And to phantasize about it, as could perhaps be done, is in my view as<br />
easy as it is worthless...<br />
35.2 James Jeans<br />
• This was completely in accordance with current ideas, but Planck now introduced<br />
the startling assumption that the vibrators did notemit energy in a<br />
continuous stream, but by a series <strong>of</strong> instantaneous gushes. Such an assumption<br />
was in flagrant opposition to Maxwell’s electromagnetic laws <strong>and</strong> to the<br />
Newtonian mechanics; it dismissed continuity from nature, <strong>and</strong> introduced<br />
a discontinuity for which there was so far no evidence. Each vibrator was<br />
supposed to have a certain unit <strong>of</strong> radiation associated with it, <strong>and</strong> could<br />
emit radiation only in complete units.<br />
35.3 Einstein<br />
• Plancks derivation (<strong>of</strong> his radiation law) was <strong>of</strong> unmatched boldness<br />
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