Can an Atom's Valence Electrons Be Used as a Radial Antenna?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of using an atom's valence electrons as a radial antenna, particularly focusing on the theoretical implications of exciting these electrons with photons and the resulting electromagnetic radiation. Participants explore the feasibility of this idea within the context of electromagnetic theory and quantum mechanics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant proposes that exciting an atom's 8 valence electrons with 8 photons could lead to the emission of electromagnetic waves at ~10kHz, suggesting that the electrons moving to higher energy levels would radiate energy radially.
  • Another participant challenges the initial claim, arguing that changing charge distributions that are spherically symmetric do not radiate and that radiation is emitted through a probabilistic process.
  • A later reply acknowledges the previous challenge and questions the possibility of creating an isotropic antenna, introducing the idea of a magnetron with resonant cavities on a sphere but expressing uncertainty about achieving uniform magnetic fields within the structure.
  • Another participant asserts that there is no perfectly spherical symmetric radiation that satisfies Maxwell's equations.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express disagreement regarding the feasibility of using valence electrons as a radial antenna, with some asserting that spherical symmetry does not allow for radiation, while others explore alternative configurations without reaching a consensus.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights limitations related to the assumptions of spherical symmetry in radiation and the complexities of electromagnetic theory as applied to atomic structures. There are unresolved questions about the practical implementation of proposed ideas.

SirR3D
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As any RF engineer knows the radial antenna is something pure theoretical. But as someone who loves physics an idea came to my mind. Please tell me if this would work and if not, why does it fail to work.
So: Assuming we have an atom with 8 valence electrons which is hit with 8 photons with enough energy to boost the electrons to the next energy level. These electron packs are sent at ~ 10kHz. When the electrons fill the s and p orbitals of the next energy level ( which are pretty symmetrical on all 3 axes ) they move further away from the protons therefor less of the electrostatic field locks in a dipole manner and more of it gets radiated radially away from the atom.
Now considering the closed Gaussian surface of maxwell's first equation a sphere we would observe that at the point in time in which the electrons are excited there is a E field, while they are not (when the photon is re-emitted) the E field is much lower, therefor we observe an electron radially spreading RADIO spectrum EM waves (~10kHz).
I also considered how the quantum numbers may come in play, but I can't figure any real contribution they would make in this problem.
 
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SirR3D said:
they move further away from the protons therefor less of the electrostatic field locks in a dipole manner and more of it gets radiated radially away from the atom.
I don't think that makes sense.

You can emit radiation with the same expected power everywhere, but then you have some probabilistic process in it. Changing charge distributions that are spherically symmetric do not radiate at all.
 
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mfb said:
I don't think that makes sense.

You can emit radiation with the same expected power everywhere, but then you have some probabilistic process in it. Changing charge distributions that are spherically symmetric do not radiate at all.

Yes you are right. I feel foolish for not realizing this from the start. Thanks for your time. So there is no way to make an isotropic antenna? I was also thinking of a magnetron with equally spaced resonant cavities positioned normally on a sphere which act like wave guide antennas. But i can't really imagine how to create the interior magnetic field so the electrons from the cathode accelerate uniformly in the interior of the sphere so that no cavity gets more field than another.
 
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There is no perfectly spherical symmetric radiation that satisfies the Maxwell equations.
 
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