Max Planck introduced energy elements proportional to frequency, , in his statistical treatment of thermal resonators. This led to a mean resonator energy and the corresponding black-body radiation spectrum, connecting entropy counting with measured radiation. For , expanding the exponential gives ; at high frequency the denominator suppresses the energy exponentially. The energy-element argument was a step toward quantum theory, without yet being the later light-quantum account of a free photon.[ref]
On the Law of Distribution of Energy in the Normal Spectrum by Max Planck. 1901 paper, section 10, equations (11)–(12); modern temperature notation
A physicist whose work on black-body radiation led to Planck's law and the use of the Planck constant. He received the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics.[ref]
Max Planck by Lorenz Friedrich Beck. Biographical account: theoretical-physics appointments, radiation work, 1858 birth and 1947 death
Portrait of Max Planck
. Unknown photographer; Nationaal Archief / gahetna.nl source recorded on Commons. Public domain (anonymous historical photograph, as declared on Commons). Source and usage information on the linked Wikimedia file page. Source. Articles by others on the same topic
Max Planck was a German theoretical physicist best known for his role in the development of quantum theory, which revolutionized the understanding of atomic and subatomic processes. He was born on April 23, 1858, and died on October 4, 1947. In 1900, Planck introduced the idea that energy is quantized, proposing that electromagnetic energy could be emitted only in discrete quantities, or "quanta.
