History
In 1900, Max Planck derived the formula for the energy of a single energy radiator, e.g., a vibrating atomic unit:
where is Planck's constant, is the frequency, k is Boltzmann's constant, and T is the absolute temperature.
Then in 1913, using this formula as a basis, Albert Einstein and Otto Stern published a paper of great significance in which they suggested for the first time the existence of a residual energy that all oscillators have at absolute zero. They called this residual energy Nullpunktsenergie (German), later translated as zero-point energy. They carried out an analysis of the specific heat of hydrogen gas at low temperature, and concluded that the data are best represented if the vibrational energy is
According to this expression, an atomic system at absolute zero retains an energy of ½hν.
Read more about this topic: Zero-point Energy
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Social history might be defined negatively as the history of a people with the politics left out.”
—G.M. (George Macaulay)
“The principle office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.”
—Tacitus (c. 55–117)
“The greatest honor history can bestow is that of peacemaker.”
—Richard M. Nixon (1913–1995)