Do Electrons Emit Lower Frequency Waves When Moving Very Fast?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the relationship between the speed of galaxies and the Doppler shift of emitted light due to relativistic effects on electrons. It is established that as galaxies move away from us, their atoms experience time dilation, causing electrons to emit lower frequency waves. The rest-frame wavelength is determined by the energy levels of electron states, and the Lorentz transformation can be applied to calculate the observed wavelength shift. The formula used for this transformation is eα = √(1 + v/c)/√(1 - v/c), where v is the speed of the atom relative to the speed of light, c.

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  • Understanding of Doppler shift in astrophysics
  • Familiarity with the principles of relativity
  • Knowledge of electron energy levels in atomic physics
  • Basic grasp of Lorentz transformations
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Astronomers, physicists, and students of astrophysics who are interested in the effects of relativity on light emitted from fast-moving galaxies.

Infrasound
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I have always been taught, that we can tell how fast a galaxy is moving away from us by it's amount of doppler shift.

If the atoms in the stars of those galaxies are moving very fast (i.e. that galaxy is moving faster than our galaxy is moving), relativity would have a bigger effect on them.

Time would run slower for them (i.e. their electrons have to slow down).

Now,

Wouldn't THAT also effect the wavelengths of the emitted light? That is to say, the electrons jiggle slower than they normally would if they were not moving so fast, so they emit lower frequency waves.

Is THAT taken into account in the amount of doppler shift?

Is my thinking off?
 
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Infrasound said:
If the atoms in the stars of those galaxies are moving very fast (i.e. that galaxy is moving faster than our galaxy is moving), relativity would have a bigger effect on them.

Galaxy is moving faster then our galaxy is moving, comparing to what?
 
Hi Infrasound! :smile:

The rest-frame wavelength is determined by the difference in energy levels of the two electron states in the atom's rest-frame.

Once you have that rest-frame wavelength, you can forget about the atom completely, and just apply the Lorentz transformation to the wavelength

basically, that's a factor of eα = √(1 + v/c)/√(1 - v/c), where tanhα = v/c is the speed of the atom.

For v very much less than c, that's approximately 1 + v/c.
 

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