= Peter Debye
{c}
{tag=Physicist}
{title2=1884–1966}
{wiki}
= Peter J. W. Debye
{c}
{synonym}
= P. Debye
{c}
{synonym}
<Peter Debye> explained the <heat capacity> of a solid by counting a spectrum of quantized elastic vibrations. In the <Debye model>, a cutoff ensures the correct number of modes, while the low-frequency acoustic spectrum gives <heat capacity> proportional to $T^3$ at sufficiently low <temperature>. At high <temperature>, the same construction approaches the classical <Dulong-Petit law>. Connecting elastic vibrations with quantum occupation explains why a solid stores much less thermal <energy> at low <temperature> than a classical mode count predicts.<Zur Theorie der spezifischen Wärmen by Peter Debye>[Annalen der Physik 344, 789–839 (1912), vibrational-spectrum heat-capacity theory]{ref}
A <physicist>.https://chemistry.cornell.edu/peter-j-w-debye[Independent biographical identity and professional specialization]{ref}
\Image[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Redirect/file/Peter%20Debye%20ETH-Bib%20Portr%2000836.jpg?width=250]
{title=Portrait of <Peter Debye>}
{description=Schmelhaus / ETH Zürich; ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv, Portr 00836. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/[CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.}
{source=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peter_Debye_ETH-Bib_Portr_00836.jpg}
{width=250}
Back to article page
