It is suggested that an understanding of blackbody radiation within classical physics requires the presence of classical electromagnetic zero-point radiation, the restriction to relativistic (Coulomb) scattering systems, and the use of discrete charge. The contrasting scaling properties of nonrelativistic classical mechanics and classical electrodynamics are noted, and it is emphasized that the solutions of classical electrodynamics found in nature involve constants which connect together the scales of length, time, and energy. Indeed, there are analogies between the electrostatic forces for groups of particles of discrete charge and the van der Waals forces in equilibrium thermal radiation. The differing Lorentz- or Galilean-transformation properties of the zero-point radiation spectrum and the Rayleigh-Jeans spectrum are noted in connection with their scaling properties. Also, the thermal effects of acceleration within classical electromagnetism are related to the existence of thermal equilibrium within a gravitational field. The unique scaling and phase-space properties of a discrete charge in the Coulomb potential suggest the possibility of an equilibrium between the zero-point radiation spectrum and matter which is universal (independent of the particle mass), and an equilibrium between a universal thermal radiation spectrum and matter where the matter phase space depends only upon the ratio mc 2/k B T. The observations and qualitative suggestions made here run counter to the ideas of currently accepted quantum physics.
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See R. Blanco, L. Pesquera, and E. Santos Phys. Rev. D 27, 1254–1287 (1983); Phys. Rev. D 29, 2240–2254 (1984). These articles suggest that a relativistic classical scatterer again leads to the Rayleigh–Jeans spectrum. The calculations involve a general class of potentials. The mechanical momentum of the particle is calculated relativistically but the class of potentials excludes the Coulomb potential and all purely electromagnetic scattering systems. Many physicists do not realize that such mechanical systems do not satisfy Lorentz invariance. It is the Coulomb potential and only the Coulomb potential which has been incorporated into a fully relativistic classical electron theory. A general potential (unextended to involve new acceleration-dependent forces and new radiation specific to the potential) violates the center-of-energy conservation laws which are directly related to the generator of Lorentz transformations. See T. H. Boyer, Am. J. Phys. 73, 953–961 (2005).
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Boyer, T.H. Connecting Blackbody Radiation, Relativity, and Discrete Charge in Classical Electrodynamics. Found Phys 37, 999–1026 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-007-9139-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-007-9139-3