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Analogy between first-order phase transitions and blackbody radiation

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Foundations of Physics Letters

Abstract

The analogy between blackbody radiation and a phase equilibrium between vapor and liquid is drawn by deriving the Clapeyron equation in which the two probability distributions of blackbody radiation play the role of the two phases. The pressure of one of these distributions, which becomes negative at sufficiently high photon energies, is analogous to a negative pressure tending to break up a liquid. A similar type of critical phenomenon should be observed for blackbody radiation.

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Lavenda, B.H., Dunning-Davies, J. Analogy between first-order phase transitions and blackbody radiation. Found Phys Lett 2, 251–259 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00692671

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00692671

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