| dc.contributor |
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.) |
|
| dc.contributor |
Psysics |
|
| dc.creator |
Rockower, Edward B. |
|
| dc.date |
2018-04-13T20:56:16Z |
|
| dc.date |
2018-04-13T20:56:16Z |
|
| dc.date |
1988-08 |
|
| dc.date.accessioned |
2022-05-19T07:29:41Z |
|
| dc.date.available |
2022-05-19T07:29:41Z |
|
| dc.identifier |
Rockower, Edward B. "Self-similarity and long-tailed distributions in the generation of thermal light." Am. J. Phys 57.7 (1989): 7. |
|
| dc.identifier |
http://hdl.handle.net/10945/57836 |
|
| dc.identifier.uri |
http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/99995 |
|
| dc.description |
Two counterintuitive phenomena are studied. ( 1) It is well known that a thermal electromagnetic
field has a Bose-Einstein (geometric) distribution of photons within a coherence volume. This
arises because of the photon clumping characteristic of a thermal Boson field. On the other hand,
the distribution of the number of atoms emitting photons through spontaneous emission must be
Poisson if emissions are truly independent. ( 2) The average time between atomic decays is finite,
being just the inverse of the total decay rate of the atoms. However, it is shown that in a coherence
volume or in a single mode of the resulting Gaussian electromagnetic field, the average photon
interarrival time is infinite. Hence, on average, an infinite length of time must pass before (N)
photons arrive in the field. These apparent paradoxes are discussed, showing how both arise from
random interference of Boson fields. The infinite waiting time is seen to be one manifestation of a
long-tailed distribution. Such distributions are increasingly important by virtue of their relation
to self-similarity and fractals, e.g., strange attractors in the description of deterministic chaos;
therefore, it is of interest to understand their counterintuitive properties and see how they arise
naturally even in more traditional analyses. |
|
| dc.description |
The Naval Sea Systems Command |
|
| dc.format |
5 p. |
|
| dc.format |
application/pdf |
|
| dc.rights |
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States. |
|
| dc.title |
Self-similarity and long-tailed distributions in the generation of thermal light |
|
| dc.type |
Article |
|