HackerTube
HomeLongsLikedHistoryWatch laterCategoriesPlaylistsSettings

What is the Ultraviolet Catastrophe?

Physics Explained2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2022-2025
YouTube
2.7M views · 6 years ago · lecture · evergreen

A detailed 40-minute explanation of the ultraviolet catastrophe, covering Rayleigh and Jeans' classical treatment of blackbody radiation and Planck's quantum hypothesis. It follows the Eisberg and Resnick textbook treatment.

Recommended for a math-heavy but thorough treatment of the ultraviolet catastrophe and the history of the experiments.

Quantum physicsFundamental physics#ultravioletcatastrophe#maxplanck#rayleigh-jeans#quantummechanics#historyofphysics

4 comments from Hacker News

@aeonik2025 · in “Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics (2014)”

You know about the Ultraviolet catastrophe? Physics Explained Ultraviolet Catastrophe: ▶ this video This Veritassium Video goes back further in time and talks about Action, and the Genesis of this idea. link Chemistorian, The history of Atomic Theory. link

CitesView on HN
@sbuttgereit2022 · in “Death by hockey sticks”

Kinda funny. Just before seeing this article I had just finished watching a wonderful video on the "Ultraviolet Catastrophe" ( ▶ this video ) which isn't exactly the same as what's being talked about here... but in the same class of problem if you make that class big enough :-). When looking at these sorts of things, surely such "hockey sticks" are often times just not considering the limiting factors? I'm no mathematician (by any approximation) but it seems like more often than not finding such a result should point to some incompleteness or some closer look being required to get the full picture. (P.S. that video was very math heavy and no, I didn't understand most of the math beyond hand-wavy terms... still glad they went into the detail.)

RecommendsView on HN
@squeaky-clean2022 · in “The strength of the strong force”

This is the basis of the "ultraviolet catastrophe" and lead to the discovery of quantization of radiation. The "catastrophe" being that as classical laws for light implied a potentially unbounded amount of energy as wavelength decreased. link ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
@nemothekid2022 · in “PBS SpaceTime”

Science Asylum is great, but I dislike the 90s educational show presentation format. An absolute gem I've stumbled across is ScienceClic: link They have amazing presentations on Relativity, my favorite being: "A new way to visualize General Relativity" - link "Hawking Radiation" - link Another, while heavier and less accessible channel is Physics Explained: link These are closer like lectures, but I enjoy them because they go into the histories of some of these experiments; and what the prevailing wisdom was around the time the experiments were performed: "What is the Ultraviolet Catastrophe?" - ▶ this video

RecommendsView on HN
Hawking Radiation12:06

Hawking Radiation

PBS Space Time
1.3M views • 8 years ago
Visualization of Quantum Physics (Quantum Mechanics)14:34

Visualization of Quantum Physics (Quantum Mechanics)

udiprod
2.8M views • 9 years ago
A Brief History of Quantum Mechanics - with Sean Carroll56:11

A Brief History of Quantum Mechanics - with Sean Carroll

The Royal Institution
4.7M views • 6 years ago
Quantum Field Theory visualized15:53

Quantum Field Theory visualized

ScienceClic English
2.7M views • 6 years ago
Nima Arkani-Hamed: The End of Space-Time49:43

Nima Arkani-Hamed: The End of Space-Time

Max-Planck-Institut für Physik
254K views • 4 years ago
that dark matter video aged like milk1:00:28

that dark matter video aged like milk

Angela Collier
404K views • 2 years ago
Why Quantum Information is Never Destroyed13:43

Why Quantum Information is Never Destroyed

PBS Space Time
715K views • 8 years ago
But why would light "slow down"? | Visualizing Feynman's lecture on the refractive index28:34

But why would light "slow down"? | Visualizing Feynman's lecture on the refractive index

3Blue1Brown
2.9M views • 2 years ago
Complete Solution To The Twins Paradox3:34

Complete Solution To The Twins Paradox

minutephysics
2.3M views • 10 years ago
The Crisis in Cosmology18:05

The Crisis in Cosmology

PBS Space Time
1.1M views • 7 years ago
The Quantum Conspiracy: What Popularizers of QM Don't Want You to Know1:03:43

The Quantum Conspiracy: What Popularizers of QM Don't Want You to Know

Google TechTalks
1.8M views • 15 years ago
Black hole Firewalls - with Sean Carroll and Jennifer Ouellette1:27:44

Black hole Firewalls - with Sean Carroll and Jennifer Ouellette

The Royal Institution
1.8M views • 12 years ago
The Delayed Choice Quantum Eraser, Debunked12:51

The Delayed Choice Quantum Eraser, Debunked

Sabine Hossenfelder
718K views • 5 years ago
The Holographic Universe Explained18:24

The Holographic Universe Explained

PBS Space Time
3.5M views • 7 years ago
Some light quantum mechanics (with minutephysics)22:22

Some light quantum mechanics (with minutephysics)

3Blue1Brown
2.2M views • 9 years ago
Why Parallel Universes Are Probably Real20:00

Why Parallel Universes Are Probably Real

Veritasium
25.4M views • 6 years ago
Particles, Fields and The Future of Physics - A Lecture by Sean Carroll1:37:55

Particles, Fields and The Future of Physics - A Lecture by Sean Carroll

Fermilab
1.8M views • 13 years ago
The Equation That Explains (Nearly) Everything!16:43

The Equation That Explains (Nearly) Everything!

PBS Space Time
1.6M views • 4 years ago
The Extreme World of Ultra Intense Lasers - with Kate Lancaster59:19

The Extreme World of Ultra Intense Lasers - with Kate Lancaster

The Royal Institution
859K views • 11 years ago
Turning Waves Into Particles45:55

Turning Waves Into Particles

Huygens Optics
194K views • 1 year ago