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Note on the Equilibrium of Black-Body Radiation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2008

W. Heitler
W. Heitler*
Affiliation:
H. H. Wills Physical Laboratory, University of Bristol
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Extract

Recent discoveries have shown that two light quanta with total energy not less than 2mc2 can create a pair of electrons (inverse process to the ordinary annihilation). Hence it follows that ordinary black-body radiation no longer represents an equilibrium state. In thermodynamic equilibrium a certain number of electron pairs must be present, the number of which will depend upon the temperature. It can be calculated as follows.

Type
Research Article
Information
Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , April 1935 , pp. 242 - 243
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge Philosophical Society 1935

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References

* Note added in proof. The probability of the creation of a pair by two light quanta has in the meantime been calculated by Breit, J. and Wheeler, T. A., Phys. Rev. 46 (1934), 1087.Google Scholar

* If, besides the electron pairs, a certain additional number of negative electrons are present, the left-hand side of (5) has to be replaced by √N + N −, where N − represents the total number of negative electrons.