Physics – High Energy Physics – High Energy Physics - Theory
Scientific paper
1993-12-07
Physics
High Energy Physics
High Energy Physics - Theory
46 pages, TeX
Scientific paper
The Feynman-Vernon formalism is used to obtain a microscopic, quantum mechanical derivation of black body radiation, for a massless scalar field in 1+1 dimensions, weakly coupled to an environment of finite size. The model exhibits the absorption, thermal equilibrium, and emission properties of a canonical black body, but shows that the thermal radiation propagates outwards from the body, with the Planckian spectrum applying inside a wavefront region of finite thickness. The black body environment used in the derivation can be considered to represent a very fine, granular medium, such as lampblack. In the course of developing the model for black body radiation, thermalization of a single harmonic oscillator by a heat bath with slowly varying spectral density is demonstrated. Bargmann-Fock coherent state variables, being convenient for problems involving harmonic oscillators and free fields, are reviewed and then used throughout the paper. An appendix reviews the justification for using baths of independent harmonic oscillators to model generic quantum environments.
No associations
LandOfFree
Influence functionals and black body radiation does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Influence functionals and black body radiation, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Influence functionals and black body radiation will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-312014