Friday, September 16, 2016

quantum mechanics - Why is the planck function continuous and not discrete?


If we imagine a object made up of Hydrogen gas that is optically thick to all radiation, and is in thermal equilibrium, then, microscopically, photons will be emitted and absorbed as emission/absorption lines.


However, the overall object should emit radiation according to Planck’s Law, which describes intensity as a continuous function of wavelength (and temperature).



How does this occur and where do the photons we detect at wavelengths between spectral lines of hydrogen come from originally?




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