Finding the Density of States of Radiation Oscillators

[digipony]

Homework Statement

Calculate the density of states if the radiation oscillators are confined to a square (i.e. in two dimensions).

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

This was one of the questions for my Modern Physics class, (we recently covered blackbody radiation), although based on the research I have been doing in hopes of understanding it, I think it has to do with Quantum Statistics. I have no idea what to do here, or how to start as I have not taken a quantum course.

Of the stuff I've looked over in my modern textbook and online, I see that density of states can be found by taking the derivative of an equation representing the number of states in an area/volume with respect to energy. However, I have no idea how to find an equation for the number of states in a volume/area in the first place. Could anyone guide me on what to do for this problem?
Thanks in advance!

 

[vela]

Try taking a look at http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/252/black_body_radiation.html, particularly the section on counting standing waves.

 

[digipony]

Thank you! I looked for hours trying to find something that makes sense but nothing clicked until ^ this article.