We point out that current textbooks of modern physics are a century out-of-date in their treatment of blackbody radiation within classical physics. Relativistic classical electrodynamics including classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation gives the Planck spectrum with zero-point radiation as the blackbody radiation spectrum. In contrast, nonrelativistic mechanics cannot support the idea of zero-point energy; therefore, if nonrelativistic classical statistical mechanics or nonrelativistic mechanical scatterers are invoked for radiation equilibrium, one arrives at only the low-frequency Rayleigh-Jeans part of the spectrum, which involves no zero-point energy, and does not include the high-frequency part of the spectrum involving relativistically invariant classical zero-point radiation. Here, we first discuss the correct understanding of blackbody radiation within relativistic classical physics, and then we review the historical treatment. Finally, we point out how the presence of Lorentz-invariant classical zero-point radiation and the use of relativistic particle interactions transform the previous historical arguments, so as now to give the Planck spectrum including classical zero-point radiation. Within relativistic classical electromagnetic theory, Planck's constant appears as the scale of source-free zero-point radiation.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
July 2018
PAPERS|
July 01 2018
Blackbody radiation in classical physics: A historical perspective
Timothy H. Boyer
Timothy H. Boyer
Department of Physics, City College of the City University of New York
, New York, New York 10031
Search for other works by this author on:
Am. J. Phys. 86, 495–509 (2018)
Article history
Received:
November 06 2017
Accepted:
April 11 2018
Citation
Timothy H. Boyer; Blackbody radiation in classical physics: A historical perspective. Am. J. Phys. 1 July 2018; 86 (7): 495–509. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.5034785
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Citing articles via
A simplified relativity experiment
David P. Jackson, Fedya Grishanov, et al.
All objects and some questions
Charles H. Lineweaver, Vihan M. Patel
The physics of “everesting” on a bicycle
Martin Bier
Playing with active matter
Angelo Barona Balda, Aykut Argun, et al.
Related Content
The contrasting roles of Planck's constant in classical and quantum theories
American Journal of Physics (April 2018)
Evolution of quasi-history of the Planck blackbody radiation equation in a physics textbook
American Journal of Physics (December 2018)
Design, development, and evaluation of a simple blackbody radiative source
Rev. Sci. Instrum. (May 2010)
Diamagnetic behavior in random classical radiation
Am. J. Phys. (November 2019)
The Bose-Einstein condensate temperature of an ideal blackbody
AIP Advances (September 2018)