On the validity of Kirchhoff's law of thermal emission
Robitaille, P.-M.
Dept. of Radiol. & the Biophys., Biomed. Eng., Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH, USA;
This paper appears in: Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
Publication Date: Dec. 2003
Volume: 31,
Issue: 6, Part 1
On page(s): 1263- 1267
ISSN: 0093-3813
INSPEC Accession Number: 7950500
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/TPS.2003.820958
Current Version Published: 2004-02-19
Abstract
In this paper, Kirchhoff's law is discussed in the context of two extremes: the perfect absorber and the perfect reflector. It is argued that Kirchhoff's extension of his law to the perfect reflector is not justified based on experimental evidence. This greatly limits the universality of the formulations advanced by Kirchhoff and Planck in that blackbody radiation becomes dependent on the nature of the radiating object. In this regard, it is emphasized that graphite is unique in its ability to act as a nearly perfect absorber. The consequences are important in our analysis of all temperatures based on radiative emission.
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