Planck Length 1 Detector? Emitter?

[Silly Questions]

If those critera are not met does black body radiation then cease to be the same as thermal?

 

[vanhees71]

Sure, if the radiation is not in thermal equilibrium it's described by another state and thus you'll not measure a Planck spectrum.

 

[PeterDonis]

does black body radiation then cease to be the same as thermal?

No, the radiation just ceases to be either thermal or black body (since "black body" and "thermal" mean the same thing for radiation).

 

[Silly Questions]

So is there anything wrong with thinking that black body radiation, thermal radiation, and electrons changing energy levels are the same thing?

For the Planck length quantization to apply does the material radiating need to be in pure elemental form? I think I've been told in this thread that molecules have their own rules, but I wanted to make sure: quantization by Planck lengths only applies to the emissions from electrons changing energy levels within the energy shells of atoms, not the various hybrid orbitals of molecules?

Does this mean the inner walls of the black body apparatus need to be made out of elemental carbon? Black to absorb light and in element form to get the proper electron shells?

 

[PeterDonis]

So is there anything wrong with thinking that black body radiation, thermal radiation, and electrons changing energy levels are the same thing?

Yes. Only the first two are the same thing. Electrons are not radiation. Also, individual electrons changing energy levels do not emit black body/thermal radiation.

 

[Silly Questions]

Can electrons change energy levels without emitting or absorbing a photon?