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ultraviolet catastrophe. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ultraviolet catastrophe, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ultraviolet catastrophe in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ultraviolet catastrophe you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
Coined by Paul Ehrenfest in 1911 in German. From the explosion of energy at the ultraviolet end of the spectrum (away from visible and infrared light) caused by the Rayleigh-Jeans Law theory. The use of UV is to represent that end of the spectrum, given that the visible spectrum represents a stand-in for the whole electromagnetic spectrum, and infrared and ultraviolet are stand-ins for the endpoints. This usage is similar to that represented by the logic behind the terms "redshift" and "blueshift", which assume endpoints of red and blue.
Noun
ultraviolet catastrophe
- (physics) A fault in classical physics, from the Rayleigh's Law/Rayleigh-Jeans Law outcomes at short wavelengths/high frequencies, that causes infinite amplification of shorter wavelength/higher frequency radiation inside a cavity, due to the application of equipartition theorem on black body radiation within a cavity.
Usage notes
- This does not literally refer to the explosion of ultraviolet radiation, rather any radiation shorter than a specific limiting size of propagating radiation in a set sized cavity, dependent on the size of the cavity.
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