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Revista Virtual de Química

Teoria Quântica: Uma Abordagem Quantizada da sua Evolução – Parte I

Fernanda K. C. Félix, Pedro G. B. Bonfim, Lucas Samuel Soares dos Santos, Douglas Henrique Pereira

Published Feb 8, 2016• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The Interest in the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter was the first impulse to structure a series of formulas, postulates and theories that would become the foundation for quantum physics. Under the shadow of statistical determinism, in the XIX and XX centuries, started the studies on the blackbody radiation, a consequent reformulation of various theories of classical physics and the introduction of the concepts of energy quantization, radiation and particles. This article will deal, briefly and chronologically, with the evolution of the old quantum theory. DOI: 10.5935/1984-6835.20160024

DOI
10.5935/rvq.v8i2.1299

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The Interest in the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter was the first impulse to structure a series of formulas, postulates and theories that would become the foundation for quantum physics. Under the shadow of statistical determinism, in the XIX and XX centuries, started the studies on the blackbody radiation, a consequent reformulation of various theories of classical physics and the introduction of the concepts of energy quantization, radiation and particles. This article will deal, briefly and chronologically, with the evolution of the old quantum theory. DOI: 10.5935/1984-6835.20160024
The Interest in the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter was the first impulse to structure a series of formulas, postulates and theories that would become the foundation for quantum physics.Under the shadow of statistical determinism, in the XIX and XX centuries, started the studies on the blackbody radiation, a consequent reformulation of various theories of classical physics and the introduction of the concepts of energy quantization, radiation and particles.This article will deal, briefly and chronologically, with the evolution of the old quantum theory.
The origin of the relativity theories was closely bound up with the development of electromagnetic concepts, a development that approached a coherent fieldtheoretical formulation, according to which all actions may vary in a continuous manner. In contrast, quantum theory arose out of the development of atomic concepts, a development that was characterized by the acknowledgment of a fundamental limitation to classical physical ideas when applied to atomic phenomena. This restriction was expressed in the so-called quantum postulate, which attributed to any atomic process an essential discontinuity that was symbolized by Planck's quantum of action. Quantum field theory (QFT) is a later phase of the conceptual developments of quantum theory, and has the old quantum theory and non-relativistic quantum mechanics, essentially the preliminary analyses of the interactions between atoms and radiation, as its predecessors. This chapter will review some features of quantum physics that are relevant to the rise of QFT. The quantization of motion In solving the problem of the equilibrium between matter and radiation, Max Planck (1900) showed that the laws of heat radiation demanded an element of discontinuity in the description of atomic processes. In the statistical behavior of atoms represented, in Planck's description, by linear resonators in their interactions with radiation, only states of vibration should be taken into account whose energy was an integral multiple of a quantum, hv , where h is Planck's constant and v is the frequency of the resonator. Planck himself believed that the discontinuity of energy was only a property of atoms, and was not ready to apply the idea of energy quantization to radiation itself.
This work examines the physical and conceptual evolution of the light quantum from Planck's blackbody theory to the theoretical and experimental developments that led to the quantization of the electromagnetic field. The present study shows that the decisive transition occurred in Einstein's quantum theory of radiation (1916-1917). Absorption, stimulated emission, and spontaneous emission were formulated as elementary probabilistic mechanisms whose statistical balance alone reproduces the blackbody spectrum. In particular, spontaneous emission requires the emission of a light quantum, thereby implicitly proving its physical necessity before its theoretical status was clarified. At the same time, the already existing term photon began to acquire a stable usage following Lewis's 1926 proposal and became increasingly associated with Einstein's light quantum. By the mid-1920s, the central problem had shifted from whether light quanta were physically required to how radiation could be incorporated into the emerging quantum-mechanical formalism. This transition marks a key stage, illustrating how initial debates about the existence of light quanta gave way to their integration into a comprehensive theoretical structure. The resulting asymmetry between the novel quantum description of matter and the still-classical description of radiation, called into question by the phenomenon of spontaneous emission, identifies the physical problem that led to the quantization of the electromagnetic field.
Abstract We provide an overview, as non‐technical as possible, of the contents of Vol. 1 of the book. Reflecting the structure of the volume, this overview consists of two parts. In the first part, we summarize the most important early contributions to quantum theory (covered in detail in Chs. 2–4). This part starts with Planck’s work on black‐body radiation culminating in the introduction of Planck’s constant in 1900. It then moves on to Einstein’s 1905 light‐quantum hypothesis, his theory of specific heats, and his formulas for energy and momentum fluctuations in black‐body radiation. After summarizing Bohr’s path to his quantum model of the atom, it concludes with Einstein’s 1916–17 radiation theory combining elements of Bohr’s model with his own light‐quantum hypothesis. In the second part we summarize our analysis of the old quantum theory (given in detail in Chs. 5–7). After a brief overview of the career of Sommerfeld, who together with Bohr took the lead in developing the old quantum theory, we review the three principles we have identified as the cornerstones of the theory (the quantization conditions, the adiabatic principle, and the correspondence principle). We then discuss three of the theory’s most notable successes (fine structure, Stark effect, X‐ray spectra) and, finally, three of its most notorious failures (multiplets, Zeeman effect, helium).
The quantum theory of light began in the early 20th century. The successful introduction of the concept of photon, or light quantum, stimulated a new foundation of physics, namely, the quantum theory. Today, quantum theory has turned out to be the overarching principle of modern physics. It would be difficult to find a single subject among the physical sciences which is not affected in its foundations or in its applications by quantum theory. The photon is a wave: it has no mass, it travels at the highest speed in the universe, and it interferes with itself. The photon is a particle: it has well-defined values of momentum and energy, and it even “spins” like a particle. Around the year of 1900, an unexpected observation happened in experimental physics. It was found that the experimentally observed spectral distribution of blackbody radiation disagreed with the theoretical predications of classical physics.