Maxwell's Law, and the Absorption and Emission of Radiation

Abstract

In the famous paper in which he developed his theory of radiation, Einstein investigated two problems. He investigated first the problem of what distribution of radiant energy in the steady state would be set up by an enclosed assembly of atoms in thermodynamic equilibrium radiating and absorbing according to the assumptions of his theory; he showed that the distribution so set up was given by Planck's law. He investigated secondly the velocities set up amongst the atoms in consequence of the random variations in direction of the emissions and absorptions; provided that emissions are assumed to be directed, so giving rise to recoil momentum, he showed that the mean square velocity-component in a given direction, , is equal to its equipartition value, given by .