Theoretical Particles @ Planck Scale: Is there a maximum wavelength of light?

jrbirch
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
First time poster so please be gentle...

E = h * f
f = c / wavelength

1) Is there a theoretical limit on maximum f (minimum wavelength of Planck length)?
2) Is there a theoretical limit on minimum f of 1 (maximum wavelength of c)? (ie// the maximum distance that a photon can cover in unit time?)
2a) Are there radio waves that exist < 1 Hz?
3) Is it possible to measure E < h ? Is this distinguishable from E = 0?

Thanks.

Background: BSc in Comp. Sci.
I've searched the forums but haven't found anything that covers this...
 
Physics news on Phys.org
1) I don't think there is a physical limit to the frequency, but there is a limit to how accurately we can measure that frequency.

2) The maximum distance a photon can cover in unit time is determined by the speed of light, unless I'm misunderstanding your question...

2a) Yep -- a 0.5 Hz (cycle per second) signal would have a wavelength equal to the distance EM waves travel through a given medium in 2 seconds.

3) Yes, but I believe a corresponding measurement in time would become extremely inaccurate. I'm not sure about the second part of the question...

Any physicists correct me if I'm wrong (I'm sure you would do that anyway).
 
Hey Runner,

First, thanks for answering.

As to #2/#2a they're both asking pretty much the same thing.

If an EM wave has a frequency .5Hz doesn't that mean that the wave is propagating faster then c (the particles that make up the wave need to travel at 2c)?

Is frequency really just a continuous number or does it have some grounding and constraints in the real world?
 
Not an expert in QM. AFAIK, Schrödinger's equation is quite different from the classical wave equation. The former is an equation for the dynamics of the state of a (quantum?) system, the latter is an equation for the dynamics of a (classical) degree of freedom. As a matter of fact, Schrödinger's equation is first order in time derivatives, while the classical wave equation is second order. But, AFAIK, Schrödinger's equation is a wave equation; only its interpretation makes it non-classical...
Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. Towards the end of the first lecture for the Qiskit Global Summer School 2025, Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Olivia Lanes (Global Lead, Content and Education IBM) stated... Source: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/quantum-entanglement-is-a-kinematic-fact-not-a-dynamical-effect/ by @RUTA
Is it possible, and fruitful, to use certain conceptual and technical tools from effective field theory (coarse-graining/integrating-out, power-counting, matching, RG) to think about the relationship between the fundamental (quantum) and the emergent (classical), both to account for the quasi-autonomy of the classical level and to quantify residual quantum corrections? By “emergent,” I mean the following: after integrating out fast/irrelevant quantum degrees of freedom (high-energy modes...
Back
Top