Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Case Study I The Origins of Newton’s Laws of Motion and of Gravity
- Case Study II Maxwell’s Equations
- Case Study III Mechanics and Dynamics: Linear and Non-linear
- Case Study IV Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics
- Case Study V The Origins of the Concepts of Quantisation and Quanta
- 13 Black-Body Radiation up to 1895
- 14 1895–1900: Planck and the Spectrum of Black-Body Radiation
- 15 Planck’s Theory of Black-Body Radiation
- 16 Einstein and the Quantisation of Light
- 17 The Triumph of the Light Quantum Hypothesis
- Case Study VI Special and General Relativity
- Case Study VII Cosmology and Physics
- Author Index
- Subject Index
17 - The Triumph of the Light Quantum Hypothesis
from Case Study V - The Origins of the Concepts of Quantisation and Quanta
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 March 2020
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Case Study I The Origins of Newton’s Laws of Motion and of Gravity
- Case Study II Maxwell’s Equations
- Case Study III Mechanics and Dynamics: Linear and Non-linear
- Case Study IV Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics
- Case Study V The Origins of the Concepts of Quantisation and Quanta
- 13 Black-Body Radiation up to 1895
- 14 1895–1900: Planck and the Spectrum of Black-Body Radiation
- 15 Planck’s Theory of Black-Body Radiation
- 16 Einstein and the Quantisation of Light
- 17 The Triumph of the Light Quantum Hypothesis
- Case Study VI Special and General Relativity
- Case Study VII Cosmology and Physics
- Author Index
- Subject Index
Summary
Einstein never deviated from his belief in the reality of light quanta. In 1909, he published a remarkable paper in which he showed that fluctuations in the intensity of black-body radiation consisted of the statistical sum of the wave and particle properties of light. Following the 1911 Solvay conference, most of the participants were converted to the existence of light quanta. Bohr first applied the concepts of quanta to the structure of atoms. The experiment which finally convinced everyone of the light quantum hypothesis was Compton's demonstration of the energy change of X-rays in their scattering by electrons. This resulted in the concept of the wave-particle duality of light, one of the major foundation stones of quantum mechanics.
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- Theoretical Concepts in PhysicsAn Alternative View of Theoretical Reasoning in Physics, pp. 409 - 438Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020