I What is the range of natural photon frequencies?

[dsaun777]

Given that electromagnetic waves transport energy via photons, what is the lowest and highest possible frequency of a photon and what physical phenomena do these relate to? It is clear that the larger the wavelength the lower the energy for a photon. so what are the limits of the wavelength?

 

[Mentz114]

The lower limit of zero cannot be achieved according to themodynamics. The highest energy that has been observed was at the LHC and the energy is something like that of a speeding truck. This apparently is comparable with early big-bang energies.

 

[Vanadium 50]

The highest energy that has been observed was at the LHC and the energy is something like that of a speeding truck.

Where did you get that? I find it hard to believe, as the total collision energy is only 20 ergs. (2 microjoules)

 

[Mentz114]

Where did you get that? I find it hard to believe, as the total collision energy is only 20 ergs. (2 microjoules)

A Google search gets

13 teraelectronvolts (TeV)—the highest energy ever achieved in a laboratory.

Two heavy nuclei smashing together at 0.9 c ?
I guess I can't convert from eV to ergs.
https://home.cern/science/engineering/restarting-lhc-why-13-tev

 

[Vanadium 50]

1 TeV is 1.6 ergs.

 

[Drakkith]

Given that electromagnetic waves transport energy via photons, what is the lowest and highest possible frequency of a photon and what physical phenomena do these relate to? It is clear that the larger the wavelength the lower the energy for a photon. so what are the limits of the wavelength?

There is no upper limit to my knowledge, and the lower limit is bounded from below by 0 Hertz.

 

[Heikki Tuuri]

In the Minkowski space, if you can switch to an arbitrary frame moving at almost the speed of light, then you can Doppler shift any photon as much as you like.

Thus, a very ordinary photon of light appears to some observer as having an almost zero energy, or an almost infinite energy.

There are no limits on photon energy in special relativity.