CAREER: Blackbody radiation in the nanothermodynamic limit

*非技术摘要*尽管不了解现代量子力学和相对论理论，马克斯·普朗克1900年描述热辐射的黑体定律一再出现在当前研究的前沿。这一教师早期职业奖资助了一个项目，该项目将对纳米物体的黑体辐射进行批判性研究，并在几个层面上改善科学教育。在实验中，碳纳米管将被配置为灯泡细丝，它们的温度将由它们发出的辐射的颜色决定。与所有普通灯泡中的灯丝不同，这些灯丝与它们发出的辐射的波长相比很窄，因此它们超出了经典热力学预计有效的通常范围。我们面临的挑战是阐明对普朗克定律的修改，这些修改不依赖于物质，而只与大小和维度有关。对这些效应的深入理解不仅将影响热力学和量子力学的交叉等基本领域，还将影响非常具体的悬而未决的问题。参与这项研究的研究生将学习技能，为未来的科学职业生涯做好准备。由该奖项资助的教育改进利用了无处不在的黑体辐射。课程和活动将针对从高中到研究生院的多个层次的教育，以及普通公众。由于目前可以观测到来自大爆炸和烤面包机等各种来源的黑体辐射，它在物理学研究的前沿和日常生活之间形成了一座天然的桥梁。*技术摘要*尽管不受现代量子力学和相对论的影响，但普朗克古老的黑体辐射定律一再出现在当前研究的前沿。该学院早期职业奖资助了一个项目，该项目将在纳米热力学极限内批判性地检查黑体辐射，并在几个层面上改进科学教育。这个项目将对热辐射体进行实验研究，这些辐射体与其热辐射的特征波长相比很小，而且很热，热能规模大于量子能级间距。碳纳米管将被配置为灯泡细丝，其温度将通过超分辨率光学测温来确定。我们面临的挑战是阐明对普朗克定律的修改，这些修改不依赖于物质，而只与大小和维度有关。对这些效应的深入理解不仅将影响热力学和量子力学的交叉等基本领域，还将影响非常具体的开放问题，例如量化声致发光气泡的温度。参与这项研究的研究生将学习技能，为未来的科学职业生涯做好准备。由该奖项资助的教育改进利用了无处不在的黑体辐射。课程和活动将针对从高中到研究生院的多个层次的教育，以及普通公众。由于目前可以观测到来自大爆炸和烤面包机等各种来源的黑体辐射，它在物理学研究的前沿和日常生活之间形成了一座天然的桥梁。

****NON-TECHNICAL ABSTRACT****Despite being uninformed by the modern theories of quantum mechanics and relativity, Max Planck's 1900 blackbody law describing thermal radiation appears repeatedly at the forefront of current research. This Faculty Early Career Award funds a project that will critically examine blackbody radiation from nanoscopic objects, and improve science education at several levels. Experimentally, carbon nanotubes will be configured as light bulb filaments, and their temperature will be determined by the color of the radiation they emit. Unlike those in all normal light bulbs, these filaments are narrow compared to the wavelength of the radiation they emit, and thus they are outside the usual regime where classical thermodynamics is expected to be valid. The challenge is to elucidate the modifications to Planck's law that are not material-dependent, but rather functions only of size and dimensionality. A deeper understanding of these effects will impact not only such fundamental areas as the intersection of thermodynamics with quantum mechanics, but also very specific unsolved problems. The graduate students involved with this research will learn skills that will equip them for future scientific careers. The educational improvements funded by this award exploit the ubiquity of blackbody radiation. Courses and activities will be aimed at education at many levels, high school through graduate school, as well as the general public. As blackbody radiation is currently observable coming from sources as varied as the Big Bang and toaster ovens, it forms a natural bridge between the very forefront of physics research and everyday life.****TECHNICAL ABSTRACT****Despite being uninformed by the modern theories of quantum mechanics and relativity, Planck's venerable blackbody radiation law appears repeatedly at the forefront of current research. This Faculty Early Career Award funds a project that will critically examine blackbody radiation in the nanothermodynamic limit, and improve science education at several levels. This project will experimentally investigate thermal radiators that are small compared to their thermal radiation's characteristic wavelength, and hot, with thermal energy scale larger than the quantum level spacings. Carbon nanotubes will be configured as light bulb filaments, and their temperature will be determined by super-resolution optical pyrometry. The challenge is to elucidate the modifications to Planck's law that are not material-dependent, but rather functions only of size and dimensionality. A deeper understanding of these effects will impact not only such fundamental areas as the intersection of thermodynamics with quantum mechanics, but also very specific open problems, such as quantifying the temperatures achieved in sonoluminescing bubbles. The graduate students involved with this research will learn skills that will equip them for future scientific careers. The educational improvements funded by this award exploit the ubiquity of blackbody radiation. Courses and activities will be aimed at education at many levels, high school through graduate school, as well as the general public. As blackbody radiation is currently observable coming from sources as varied as the Big Bang and toaster ovens, it forms a natural bridge between the very forefront of physics research and everyday life.