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The ultraviolet catastrophe, also called the Rayleigh–Jeans catastrophe, was the prediction of late 19th century to early 20th century classical physics that an ideal black body at thermal equilibrium would emit an unbounded quantity of energy as wavelength decreased into the ultraviolet range.
Nov 24, 2022 · The ultraviolet (UV) catastrophe, also called the Rayleigh–Jeans catastrophe, is the prediction of classical electromagnetism that the intensity of the radiation emitted by an ideal black body at thermal equilibrium goes to infinity as wavelength decreases (see figure \(\PageIndex{1}\) )\(^1\).
May 22, 2019 · The ultraviolet catastrophe is the error at short wavelengths in the Rayleigh–Jeans law (depicted as “classical theory” in the graph) for the energy emitted by an ideal black-body.
The German physicist Max Planck (1858 – 1947) was able to solve the ultraviolet catastrophe through what, at least at first, he saw as a mathematical trick. This trick, which marked the birth of quantum physics, also led to Planck being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918.
Dec 13, 2023 · The ultraviolet catastrophe was a perplexing issue in physics during the late 1800s. Scientists, using classical physics, predicted that the intensity of radiation emitted by a black body would skyrocket to infinity as the frequency of the radiation increased, particularly in the ultraviolet range.
This divergence between the results of classical theory and experiments, which came to be called the ultraviolet catastrophe, shows how classical physics fails to explain the mechanism of blackbody radiation.
Feb 8, 2024 · Max Planck solved the ultraviolet catastrophe by challenging the assumption that all vibrational modes with a body were possible, and that energy was a continuum shared between an infinite number of modes.
The Ultraviolet Catastrophe. A is an idealized object which absorbs and emits all frequencies. Classical physics can be used to derive an equation which describes the intensity of blackbody radiation as a function of frequency for a fixed temperature--the result is known as the Rayleigh-Jeans law.
Worse yet, the form of \( u \) is unbounded as \( f \) grows large. When integrated over the entire spectrum, the Rayleigh-Jeans distribution would suggest that blackbodies radiate infinite energy, a problem that became known as the "ultraviolet catastrophe."
Sep 12, 2022 · This divergence between the results of classical theory and experiments, which came to be called the ultraviolet catastrophe, shows how classical physics fails to explain the mechanism of blackbody radiation.
