MadSci Network: Physics
Query:

Subject: Redshift and Planck's Equation

Date: Mon Mar 24 16:07:55 1997
Posted by Mike Lewin
Grade level:
School: other
City: San Francisco State/Province: Ca
Country: USA
Area of science: Physics
ID: 859241275.Ph
Message:
Isn't there a seeming contradiction between astronomical (and other Doppler 
shifts) and quantization of energy? That is, if light at some frequency 
(Lyman Alpha comes to mind) represents the minimal energy associated with 
a state transition, then what does it mean for that light to be red (or 
blue) shifted.

Is less energy released by a hydrogen atom moving away from me? One atom, one
event, one photon. As I understand quantum theory that photon will always have
the same energy. Then how come I will measure a higher or lower energy 
depending on the relative motion of me and the source?

Re: Redshift and Planck's Equation

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