The Blackbody Spectrum

Tyler Gordon

1
1.1

Classical Derivation and the Ultraviolet Catastrophe

Solution to the Wave Equation in a Box

We begin with the solution to the wave equation in a perfectly conducting box:
2 =

1 2
v 2 t2

(1)

The solution to this equation subject to the boundary conditions: (x = 0) = (y = 0) =

(z = 0) = (x = L) = (y = L) = (z = L) is:
(x, y, z) = Asin(

ny
nx
nz
x)sin(
y)sin(
z)
L
L
L

(2)

It can be seen that this wave vanishes at the boundaries, which it must at a perfectly
conducting wall.

1.2

Number of Vibrational Modes

We now want to know the number of unique modes ((nx , ny , nz ) triplets) available in any
frequency width to + d. This will allow us to determine the energy density as a
function of frequency (as the energy density contributed by any frequency slice - which
can then be integrated over frequency ranges to find the total energy in that range). The
frequency is given by v = c/ = kc/2, so the range to + d corresponds to the range
k to k + dk where k is the wavenumber of the standing wave. The wavenumber is given by
kx = nx /L (see the wave solution above), so the total wavenumber is
q
q 2
k = kx2 + ky2 + kz2 =
nx + n2y + n2z
(3)
L
q
Well find it useful to define p = n2x + n2y + n2z so that k = pL
Now we move into n-space, where our coordinate axis are nx , ny , and nz . In this space
the number density of triplets (nx , ny , nz ) is one per unit space, so the number of triplets
between k and k + dk is just the volume of the shell of infinitesimal width at the distance
1

q
n2x + n2y + n2z = p from the center. We also should note that we are only interested in
positive n-values. The number of triplets at distance p is just the surface area of the sphere
of radius p, or 4p2 , and therefore the number of triplets in the shell is 4p2 dp. Now,
rewriting this in terms of the frequency using p = 2L/c, we find:
N=

4 3 2
L d
c3

(4)

Where N is the number of modes available in the given frequency range. We can further
note that L3 = V , the volume of the box. Finally, we multiply this result by 2 in recognition
of the fact that there are 2 independent polarizations of the electromagnetic waves, thus
double the number of possible modes.
N=

1.3

8
V 2 d
c3

(5)

The Classical Partition Function

The energy in the field between the frequencies and + d is just the number of modes
multiplied by the energy in each mode. Classically, we use the equipartition theorem to
determine that the energy in each vibrational mode (which represents two quadratic degrees
of freedom - one for the kinetic and one for the potential energy of the vibration) is just
kT . This means that the energy density in the range to + d should be given by:
u(v)dv =

8kT 2
d
c3

(6)

The problem here occurs as we look at higher and higher frequencies. Since the contribution
from each frequency is the same, and there are more modes available as the frequency increases, the energy density increases without bound as we move towards higher frequencies.
This is the origin of the ultraviolet catastrophe.