Re: Energy-sucking EM antennas

[Bob Sciamanda <trebor@VELOCITY.NET>]

----- Original Message -----
From: William Beaty <billb@ESKIMO.COM>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 1999 10:58 AM
Subject: Re: Energy-sucking EM antennas> . . .
> . . .
> Many years ago I asked a colleague how tiny atoms could possibly
interact
> with relatively long light waves.  Atoms are so small that they can't
> intercept much light or emit much light if we imagine them to be like EM
> antennas.  It's like trying to do shortwave broadcasts with a dipole
> antenna which is several hundred times shorter than 1/2 wavelength.  If
> I recall, he suspected that it must be a QM effect where the atoms
somehow
> interact with "light particles" in a different way than antennas
interact
> with EM.  I never followed up on my wonderings.  Fortunately some others
> have done so.
> . . .

Hi Bill,
Thanks for the references, I'll look into at least Bohren's.
For now let me just notice that, in my experience, every "modern physics"
text quotes the above effect (an electron gathering more energy, in a
smaller time, than a wave model allows) as an argument in favor of
Einstein's photon model of the photoelectric effect, and against a wave
model of this interaction.

Bob

Bob Sciamanda (W3NLV)
Physics, Edinboro Univ of PA (em)
trebor@velocity.net
http://www.velocity.net/~trebor