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Origins of Discrete Spectra: Classical Mechanics

A physical quantity is said to have a discrete spectrum if it only takes on distinct, isolated values separated by gaps. Classical examples include the spectral lines seen in atomic emission and absorption spectra. Discrete spectra contrast with continuous spectra. Discrete spectra are seen in many physical phenomena involving oscillations, including vibrating strings, sound waves, and particle resonances. Mathematically, discrete spectra can be modeled using tools from functional analysis, such as decomposing the spectrum of a linear operator acting on a function space into its point and continuous parts. In quantum mechanics, discrete spectra correspond to the eigenvalues of operators representing observables.

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190 views

Origins of Discrete Spectra: Classical Mechanics

A physical quantity is said to have a discrete spectrum if it only takes on distinct, isolated values separated by gaps. Classical examples include the spectral lines seen in atomic emission and absorption spectra. Discrete spectra contrast with continuous spectra. Discrete spectra are seen in many physical phenomena involving oscillations, including vibrating strings, sound waves, and particle resonances. Mathematically, discrete spectra can be modeled using tools from functional analysis, such as decomposing the spectrum of a linear operator acting on a function space into its point and continuous parts. In quantum mechanics, discrete spectra correspond to the eigenvalues of operators representing observables.

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dwarika2006
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© © All Rights Reserved
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A physical quantity is said to have a discrete spectrum if it takes only distinct values, with

positive gaps between one value and the next.


The classical example of discrete spectrum (for which the term was first used) is the
characteristic set of discrete spectral lines seen in the emission spectrum and absorption
spectrum of isolated atoms of a chemical element, which only absorb and emit light at
particular wavelengths. The technique of spectroscopy is based on this phenomenon.
Discrete spectra are contrasted with the continuous spectra also seen in such experiments,
for example in thermal emission, in synchrotron radiation, and many other light-producing
phenomena.

Acoustic spectrogram of the words "Oh, no!" said by a young girl, showing how the discrete[citation
needed]
spectrum of the sound (bright orange lines) changes with time (the horizontal axis).

Discrete spectra are seen in many other phenomena, such as


vibrating strings, microwaves in a metal cavity, sound waves in a pulsating star,
and resonances in high-energy particle physics.
The general phenomenon of discrete spectra in physical systems can be mathematically
modeled with tools of functional analysis, specifically by the decomposition of the
spectrum of a linear operator acting on a functional space.

Contents
[hide]

• 1Origins of discrete spectra


o 1.1Classical mechanics
o 1.2Quantum mechanics
• 2See also
• 3References

Origins of discrete spectra[edit]


Classical mechanics[edit]
In classical mechanics, discrete spectra are often associated to waves and oscillations in a
bounded object or domain. Mathematically they can be identified with
the eigenvalues of differential operators that describe the evolution of some continuous
variable (such as strainor pressure) as a function of time and/or space.
Discrete spectra are also produced by some non-linear oscillators where the relevant
quantity has a non-sinusoidal waveform. Notable examples are the sound produced by
the vocal chords of mammals.[1][2]:p.684 and the stridulation organs of crickets,[3] whose
spectrum shows a series of strong lines at frequencies that are integer multiples
(harmonics) of the oscillation frequency.
A related phenomenon is the appearance of strong harmonics when a sinusoidal signal
(which has the ultimate "discrete spectrum", consisting of a single spectral line) is modified
by a non-linear filter; for example, when a pure tone is played through an
overloaded amplifier,[4] or when an intense monochromatic laser beam goes through a non-
linear medium.[5] In the latter case, if two arbitrary sinusoidal signals with
frequencies f and g are processed together, the output signal will generally have spectral
lines at frequencies |mf + ng| where m and n are any integers.
Quantum mechanics[edit]
Main article: Spectrum (functional analysis) § Point spectrum
In quantum mechanics, the discrete spectrum of an observable corresponds to
the eigenvalues of the operator used to model that observable. According to
the mathematical theory of such operators, its eigenvalues are a discrete set of isolated
points, which may be either finite or countable.
Discrete spectra are usually associated with systems that are bound in some sense
(mathematically, confined to a compact space). The position and momentum
operators have continuous spectra in an infinite domain, but a discrete (quantized)
spectrum in a compact domain [6] and the same properties of spectra hold for angular
momentum, Hamiltoniansand other operators of quantum systems.[6]
The quantum harmonic oscillator and the hydrogen atom are examples of physical systems
in which the Hamiltonian has a discrete spectrum. In the case of the hydrogen atom the
spectrum has both a continuous and a discrete part, the continuous part representing
the ionization.

See also[edit]
• Band structure
• Discrete frequency domain
• Decomposition of spectrum (functional analysis)
• Essential spectrum

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