Throughout this blog “The Road to Unification†and its companion book “The Reality of the Fourth *Spatial* Dimension” we have shown observations of our environment suggest space is composed a continuous non-quantized field of energy/mass and four *spatial* dimensions instead of four-dimensional space-time.
If this were true, one would think that black body radiation should be continuous over its entire range of values.
However, it can be show that this is not the case.
In the article “The Photon: a matter wave?” Oct. 1, 2007 it was shown that the electromagnetic energy is propagated by a matter wave moving on a “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.
Later the article “Why is energy/mass quantized?” Oct. 4 2007 showed how one could derive the particle or photonic properties electromagnetic energy by extrapolating the laws of classical resonance to a matter wave in four *spatial* dimensions.
Briefly, it showed the four conditions required for resonance to occur in a classical Newtonian environment, an object, or substance with a natural frequency, a forcing function at the same frequency as the natural frequency, the lack of a damping frequency and the ability for the substance to oscillate spatial would be meet by a matter wave in four *spatial* dimensions.
The existence of four *spatial* dimensions would give a continuous non-quantized energy/mass component of space the ability to oscillate spatially on a “surface” between a third and fourth *spatial* dimensions thereby fulfilling one of the requirements for classical resonance to occur.
These oscillations would be caused by an event such as the decay of a subatomic particle or the shifting of an electron in an atomic orbital. This would force the “surface” of a three-dimensional space to oscillate with the frequency associated with the energy of that event.
However, these oscillations in a continuous non-quantized field of energy/mass caused by such an event would result in a resonant system or “structure” to be established in it.Â
Classical mechanics tells us the energy of a resonant system can only take on the discreet quantized values associated with its resonant or a harmonic of its resonant frequency.
These resonant systems in a continuous non-quantized field of energy/mass are responsible for the discrete or incremental energies associated with a photon.
However, these two article also define a common mechanism responsible for the quantum mechanical or photonic and wave properties of a electromagnetic energy because it defines one in terms of the other.
A black body is an idealized object that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation that falls on it. Because no light is reflected or transmitted, the object appears black when it is cold. However, a black body emits a temperature-dependent spectrum of light. This thermal radiation from a black body is termed black body radiation.
At room temperature, black bodies emit mostly infrared wavelengths, but as the temperature increases past a few hundred degrees Celsius, black bodies start to emit visible wavelengths, appearing red, orange, yellow, white, and blue with increasing temperature. By the time an object is white, it is emitting substantial ultraviolet radiation.
The problem is that the laws of classical mechanics, specifically the equipartition theorem, states that black-bodies which have achieved thermodynamic equilibrium are mathematically obligated (by classical, pre-quantum, laws) to radiate energy in the form of ultraviolet light, gamma rays and x-rays at a certain level, depending on the frequency of emitted light.
Unfortunately, for classical laws, when a black body gets hot enough, the amount of radiation, according to the equipartition theorem should begin to approach infinity.
However, observations of black body radiation indicate that there was less and less energy given off at high end of the spectrum.
The conflict between classical predictions and observations came to be known as the Ultraviolet Catastrophe.
Einstein pointed out this difficulty could be avoided by making use of a hypothesis put forward five years earlier by Max Planck. Planck postulated that electromagnetic energy did not follow classical laws, but could only oscillate or be emitted only in discrete packets of energy proportional to the frequency, as given by Planck’s law. In other words, the light waves of each frequency in a black body could not have any energy but are limited to a few discrete values.
However, as mentioned earlier the article “Why is energy/mass quantized?” showed the quantity of energy of a photon at each frequency is determined by a resonant system which is, in turn determined by the temperature of environment it is occupying. This is because it can only have the discrete energies or frequencies that are a fundamental or harmonic of the energy of that environment. Therefore, according to classical mechanics, any frequency other than that would be irregular and non-repeating and would be absorbed into the fundamental or harmonic frequency of that environment.
This shows why energy content of a black body should be limited to discrete values if one extrapolates the laws of classical mechanics in a three-dimensional environment to one consisting of four *spatial* dimensions and assumes the causality of energy quantization is a resonant system formed by a matter wave in a continuous non-quantized field of energy/mass moving on a “surface” of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.
In other words assuming the quantum mechanical properties of energy/mass are a result, as was done in article #14 “Why is energy/mass quantized?” Oct. 4 2007 of a resonant system in four *spatial* dimensions allows one to define a mechanism in terms of classical physics why black body radiation is not continuous over its entire range of values.
Later Jeff
Copyright Jeffrey O’Callaghan 2009