What is Planck: Definition and 388 Discussions

Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, (German: [maks ˈplaŋk] (listen); English: ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.Planck made many substantial contributions to theoretical physics, but his fame as a physicist rests primarily on his role as the originator of quantum theory, which revolutionized human understanding of atomic and subatomic processes. In 1948, the German scientific institution Kaiser Wilhelm Society (of which Planck was twice president) was renamed Max Planck Society (MPS). The MPS now includes 83 institutions representing a wide range of scientific directions.

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  1. H

    Smallest Distance Possible: Planck Length

    Is it appropriate, if I defined Planck Length as the smallest distance possible for a matter to travel?
  2. L

    Highest possible temperature = Planck temperature?

    Hey there! Today I've had a discussion with my professor on the existence of a so called highest possible temperature. I've read somewhere that this is called the Planck temperature, but my teacher believes an object can be heaten to an infinitely high temperature and he was very sure of his...
  3. F

    Why Half a Planck Length is Wrong

    I know the concept of half a Planck length is wrong. But could someone explain exactly why it is wrong. Also could someone tell me what we conclude about the photon that has moved at C in a Planck time (for example) Do we conclude that the photon was at A and is now at B after the passing of a...
  4. X

    Examining the Validity of Planck Distance: A Geneticist's Perspective

    Has the Planck distance been proven to exist and be real? I thought up a way to mabey prove it. Just don't want to beat a dead horse and spend 2 weeks of my vacation working on something that's been done. -Disclaimer. I am not onto something here. I am a geneticist, not a quantum physicist...
  5. C

    Planck mass; time; length derived out of air?

    Greetings, Anyone know how the Planck mass, Planck time, and Planck length were derived in the first place? Please cite experiments or mathematics to support your comment as I'd like to intimately understand this, not just from a metaphorical standpoint. Thanks a bunch, Chaos' lil bro.
  6. P

    Different speeds of light w/ Planck Units

    OK so my whining for help covers writing a paper about how things would be different if the speed of light was changed to 65 mph. Right after getting the assignment I started thinking about dilations and all that. Then, I remembered Planck's constant. Light would still have to have the same...
  7. H

    Quantinzation of Energy & Planck help

    Can anyone help me with this question? Thanx Calculate the frequency of the photon emitted when an electron in an atom changes from (-2.42e-19 joules) to (-21.76e-19 joules). I know that I'm going to use E=hf and h=6.63e-34. I'm not sure what I do with the 2 energy levels, do i...
  8. F

    Planck Temperature: Is It The Upper Limit?

    Is there an upper limit on temperature? Is the 'Planck temperature' the upper limt?
  9. F

    Reconciling Non-locality and Planck Time: Exploring the Limits of Causality

    How does instantanious action at a distance reconcile itself with Planck Time and the assumption that nothing can happen in this minuscule timescale? Does the transition from cause to effect not have a Planck time after the cause and before the effect? Could one describe a unit of Planck Time...
  10. P

    Exploring Planck Units: Why Newton's Constant?

    I have been reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_units Why do they use Newton's universal gravitational constant, when that is a low gravity approximation and general relativity is what it used to work things out?
  11. Orion1

    Is a Planck Singularity Defined by a Probability Cloud?

    Planck Probability Cloud... I am inquiring if there is anything incorrect with the conceptualism regarding a Planck Singularity as existing within a probability cloud? P(r) dr = | \psi |^2 dV dV = 4 \pi r^2 dr P(r) dr = 4 \pi r^2 | \psi |^2 dr P(r) = 4 \pi r^2 | \psi |^2 r_p =...
  12. C

    What is Planck time, Planck length, Planck particle

    Can someone explain what are they: For egs. What is Planck time, PLanck length, Planck particle etc.
  13. T

    The Connection Between Planck Units and the Uncertainty Principle

    I know that Planck Time is the amount of time it takes light to cross Planck Length, but how did they figure out Planck Length? What are all the Planck units, how large are they, and how were they figured out?
  14. D

    Calculating the Planck Constant: A Helpful Guide for Physics Students

    Hello, First time at this site really good. So on to the point.How can i calculate the Planck constant so i can compare it with the already known number for it??its for a physics test and i can't find out ... Thnx in advance
  15. G

    Exploring the Mystery of the Planck Mass: Why is it So Big?

    If I understand well, Planck units are fundamental in the sense that they don't depend on any arbitrary choice of measurement scale, but they emerge directly from the laws of physics. For Planck length and Planck time, this seems to fit with the widespread belief that they may well also be...
  16. arivero

    GUTs & Planck Scale: Unifying Gravity?

    In 1981 Dimopoulous, Raby and Wilczek, considering SUSY GUT, remark that In the ordinary theory M \approx 10^{15} GeV and ... so the supersymmetric M \approx 10^{18} GeV. This is the same ordeor of magnitude as the Planck mass, hinting perhaps a larger unification including gravity as well...
  17. E

    What Is the Planck Radiation Formula for Wavelength?

    I'm taking a course on astrophysics, and at this time I get the astrophysics of stars. In this section, I have to use the Planck radiation formula, but I have got it for the frecuency of radiation. What's the one for wavelenght? I have found one but I tried to reconstruct the one for frecuencies...
  18. Orion1

    What is the 'Power' equation for a single 'Planck Energy Photon'?

    Planck Photon Power... What is the 'Power' equation for a single 'Planck Energy Photon'? What is the numerical value for the 'Planck Photon Power' solution? How does this 'Planck Photon Power' compare with the current power consumption of the world (at any instantaneous moment)?
  19. E

    Deriving Planck Length: Smallest Possible Length?

    Ok so I understand how we derive Planck Length using the natural constants G,h, and c. However, how do we know this indeed represents the smallest possible length an object in the universe? Or does Planck length just represent the smallest possible length under which gravity is still influential?
  20. Orion1

    Planck Photon: Unifying Principle at the Dual Planck Energy Threshold

    \gamma (E_1) \rightarrow e^+ + e^- \; \; \; E_1 = 2 m_e c^2 \gamma (E_2) \rightarrow p^+ + p^- \; \; \; E_2 = 2 m_p c^2 \gamma_p (E_3) \rightarrow m_p^+ + m_p^- \; \; \; E_3 = 2 c^2 \sqrt{\frac{\hbar c}{G}} E_n - photon energy \gamma_p - Planck Photon m_p^+ - Planck mass (matter) m_p^-...
  21. S

    Planck Units: How Did He Know What We Don't?

    I was reading about the Planck units, and they said that Planck came up with them before his quantum theory of blackbady radiation, and before the constant h had been discovered. They said it's unclear how he found these units. This seems pretty weird to me. How did he come up with these...
  22. marcus

    The Planck Lambda (Baez question)

    Over in SPR John Baez asked what is the value of the cosmological constant (Lambda) expressed in Planck units. I posted a reply earlier today, but it contained a mistake ---what I posted on SPR around 10AM today--- I think the current estimate of Lambda in Planck units is 4.0 E-123...
  23. E

    Explaining Plank Length & Its Dependence on Constants

  24. Loren Booda

    Inverse wavefunction incorporates lower Planck gravitational bound

    The wavefunction for a hypothetical quantum box of size Planck length (L), when inverted through L, models the universe with this lower bound required by quantum gravitational constraints. The initial quantum box solutions are given by: \phi_n=\sqrt(2/L)\\sin(n \pi x/L) However...
  25. marcus

    Planck scale Lorentz-symmetry test theories Amelino-Camelia

    "Planck scale Lorentz-symmetry test theories" Amelino-Camelia new paper by Giovanni A-C http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0410076
  26. C

    Was All Matter Created During the Inflationary Period After the Big Bang?

    As I understand the inflationary cosmology states that at around 10^-35 seconds to 10^-32 seconds after the Big Bang all matter was created as what Alan Guth called the "ultimate free lunch". However, it is said that at 10^-43, the so-called Planck time, was when gravity became separated from...
  27. marcus

    Discuss Planck Units: QG & LQG Hybrid Model

    we could have a thread for talking about Planck units and getting accustomed to them Planck units are basic and everpresent in QG so it helps to develop a feel for them even tho LQG is itself based on a continuum the underlying spacetime is a continuum and it is only the geometric...
  28. V

    Einstein, Ziegler and Planck: 1909

    Almost a hundred years ago leading scientists were discussing the fact that if the most elemental constituents of mass all moved at the invariable speed of light, the phenomena of relativity would be a natural consequence. This, of course, required the classical space-time. Has anyone ever...
  29. M

    Exploring the Planck Length Theory Controversy

    Is the Planck length a commonly accepted theory or is it controversial in any way?
  30. V

    Can Planck Time Explain the Age of the Universe?

    O.k., so I'm reading this article by victor stenger called Fitting the Bible to the Data where he is criticizing this guy Schroeder's attempt to fit the bible creation story in with big bang cosmology. he chooses the time of quark confinement, or 10^-4 seconds to start. this is the part that...
  31. wolram

    Quantum gravity and planck scales.

    april 2004 paper http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0404014 Decoherence has the potential to explain all existing neutrino data including LSND results, without enlarging the neutrino sector. This particular form of CPT violation can preserve the equality of masses and mixing angles between...
  32. C

    How was the Planck length (or time) calculated?

    Can anyone please shed some light on how the Planck length or Planck time were found? I understand why they have to exist, but what predicts their values? Is it even a prediction or can we actually calculate the Plank length with experiment? Thanks,
  33. R

    Are Planck Lengths Constant?

    Here is a great paper, obviously overlooked here, but not at (superstringtheory.com):wink: Anyway it has some major consequences for new thinking, like asking the above question in the post title. It is definately a important paper, and although it will no doubt stir the imagination in...
  34. wolram

    Planck units in his quantum foam theory

    sorry I am not sure if this is the correct pigeon hole to use. planck dimentions are well known but why are they the smalest possible units? i think it was wheeler that used Planck units in his quantum foam theory, would we have this theory without planck units?
  35. marcus

    Physics meets Philosophy at the Planck scale (new book?)

    I have found references to a book that is either "to appear" or has already been published by Cambridge University Press. The book is Physics meets Philosophy at the Planck scale edited by C. Callender and N. Huggett this is apparently a collection of essays by philosophers and...
  36. marcus

    An integral of the Planck radiation law- 2.701kT

    an integral of the Planck radiation law-- 2.701kT this is classical (vintage 1905) physics---kind of cute Planck's radiation law (one of the things that kicked off QM) can be written to show the numbers of photons at each frequency--in effect, a bar graph showing how the population of...
  37. marcus

    What are your ideas about describing Planck units?

    If somebody wants to know what Planck units are, how do you go about explaining? Can you make them intuitive without too much technical detail? What would your approach to describing natural units to a non-scientist (possibly a little vague as to what hbar and G are)? I want to know any...
  38. marcus

    Density of dark energy in Planck units

    this is not to argue or persuade but just to share a calculation. no answer needed unless you particularly like something about it. several websites, eg. NedWright's Cosmology tutorial have formulas for things like the critical density and the estimate that real density is very close to...
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