Physics 215 Prof.

Ioan Kosztin
Winter 2002 Introduction to Modern Physics Lecture #6

Quantum Theory of Light

• Light = electromagnetic (EM) radiation ?

• Light = corpuscle (photon) ?
o Blackbody radiation
o Photoelectric effect
o Compton effect
• Wave-Particle complementarity

What is Light?
EM Wave or Corpuscle (photons)

E(r,t) and B(r,t) are determined

Energy: E = h⋅ν = h⋅ω
from the Maxwell equations
Momentum: p = h/λ = h⋅k

Planck constant: h = 6.62×10-34 J⋅s

Physics 215
Winter 2000

Dual Nature of Light

In certain situations light exhibits wave properties, while in
other situations presents corpuscular properties.
Phenomena Explainable in terms Explainable in terms
of waves of particles
Reflection 9 9
Refraction 9 9
Interference 9 8
Diffraction 9 8
Polarization 9 8
Blackbody radiation 8 9
Photoelectric effect 8 9
Compton effect 8 9

Blackbody Radiation
= EM radiation which is in thermal equilibrium.
Black-body = a body which absorbs completely the radiation
incident on it.
Exp: a cavity with highly absorbing internal walls and a small
opening

• a ray entering the cavity can leave it only after

multiple reflections
• for a sufficiently small aperture all incoming radiation
will be trapped inside the cavity; the surface of the
aperture appears as a black body.

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Winter 2000

Blackbody Radiation
Problem: predict the spectral energy density u(ν,T) of
blackbody radiation

• According to Kirchhoff’s law

eν = J ( ν, T ) Aν
emission Absorption power
power
• For a blackbody Aν=1, and

eν = J ( ν, T )
• Spectral energy density
4
u( ν, T ) = dEν / dνdV = J ( ν, T ) = ??
c

Planck Radiation Formula (1900)

8π h ν3
u( ν, T ) =
c 3 e hν / kT − 1

8πch 1
u (λ, T ) = 5 hc / λkT
λ e −1

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Winter 2000

Limiting Cases

• Low frequency limit (hν á kT) • High frequency limit (hν à kT)
[Rayleigh-Jeans formula] [Wien’s formula]
8π 8πh 3 − hν / kT
u( ν, T ) = kTν 2 u ( ν, T ) = νe
c 3
c3

Wien's Displacement Law

When T increases, the overall blackbody radiation energy
increases and the peak of the radiation curve moves to shorter
wavelengths.
The product of the peak wavelength and the temperature is
constant.

du / dλ = 0 ⇒ T λ = const

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Winter 2000

Stefan-Boltzmann Law

The total intensity of a blackbody radiation is proportional to T4

∞
etot = ∫ dν ( c / 4) u ( ν, T ) = σ T 4
0

s =5.67×10-8 Wm-2K-4 - Stefan-Boltzmann constant

For non-blackbody radiation

etot = a σT 4

Planck’s Energy Quanta

The energy spectrum of a classical oscillator is continuous

1
〈 E 〉 = kA2
2
The energy spectrum of a quantum (microscopic) oscillator is
discrete
En( ν ) = hν( n + 1 / 2), n = 0,1,2,...
The quantum oscillator can absorb/emit energy only in portions
of the energy quantum hν
E0=hν/2 is the ground state energy of the quantum oscillator

The photon is the energy quantum of the EM field.

Blackbody radiation = ideal gas of photons in thermal
equilibrium.

ε=hν, p= Ñk, n(ε)=1/(exp(ε/kT)-1) Planck distribution

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Winter 2000

The Photoelectric Effect

Laws of the Photoelectric Effect

1. Photoelectrons are emitted instantaneously (time lag < 1ns!)

2. The number of photoelectrons (i.e., the intensity maximum of

the photocurrent) is proportional to the intensity of the light.

3. The photoelectric effect takes place only if the frequency of light

exceeds a threshold value.
hν = Φ + K ⇒ ν min = Φ / h
4. The maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons is
proportional to the frequency of the incident light, and is
independent of the intensity of the light.

K max = me v 2max / 2 = e Vs

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Winter 2000

The Work Function f

Metal f [eV]
Na 2.28
Al 4.08
Cu 4.70
Zn 4.31
Ag 4.73

The Compton Effect

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Winter 2000

Compton Scattering – Experimental Setup

Rotating crystal spectrometer

h
λ ' −λ 0 = (1 − cos θ)
me c

The Compton Effect

h
λ '−λ = (1 − cos θ)
me c

h/mec = 2.43 pm – Compton wavelength