TITLE:
The Quantum-Mechanical Explanation of the Thermal Radiative Behaviour of Helium
AUTHORS:
Thomas Allmendinger
KEYWORDS:
Kinetic Gas Theory, 2D-Atom Model of Helium, Thermal Radiation Absorption and Emission by Gases, Electronic Oscillation, Bridge Thermodynamics/Quantum-Mechanics
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Applied Mathematics and Physics,
Vol.13 No.10,
October
31,
2025
ABSTRACT: In order to apply the recently published planar atom model of Helium with well-defined electron trajectories onto the results about the thermal radiative behaviour of gases, which was published by the author in 2016, the latter publication had to be partly questioned since its theoretical evaluation contains several errors. Nevertheless, the basic statements made therein, applying the kinetic gas theory, are still valid. Since they cannot be assumed as commonly known, first, the description of the measurement equipment and the applied light sources, the most relevant results, and the basic theoretical interpretation were recapitulated. The essential empirical result of those measurements was the observation that any gas is warmed up when it is thermally irradiated, but solely up to a limiting temperature where the absorption intensity of the gas is equal to its emission intensity. This effect was first observed in air and in CO2, whereby the limiting temperatures were nearly equal. But it also occurred in the noble gases Argon, Neon and Helium, whereby the limiting temperatures depended on the type of gas. These differences could be explained by means of the kinetic gas theory, assuming proportionality between the collision wattage of the atoms and the radiation wattage. As a consequence, an additional energy must exist, which does not appear in the classic thermodynamic theory, and which must be due to an oscillating process at the electrons. In order to explain this, using the example of Helium, the said atom model is adduced. Since it exhibits well-defined electron trajectories—in contrast to the orthodox orbital model where the electrons underlie probabilities of presence—such an oscillation process, implicating an excited state of the electrons, is well describable. Thereto, a modified harmonic oscillator comes into question. This oscillator is eccentric since it rotates around the nucleus. Moreover, it is asymmetric since its energetic conditions are asymmetric with respect to the orbit path. In particular, the quantum-mechanical condition of a standing wave must be fulfilled, i.e. the angular velocity ωosc of the oscillator must be an integer multiple of the angular rotation velocity ωrot, preferably 2. By equating the oscillation energy of the electrons and the radiation energy, which is determined by Einstein’s equation for the photoelectric effect, and by applying the theorem of conservation of momentum P onto the collision process, thermodynamics could be bridged with quantum mechanics, delivering in the excited state an elliptic orbit. The essential difference between the orthodox and the alternative model consists in the fact that the orthodox model only considers the observers’ point of view, whereas the alternative model distinguishes between object and observer. Thereby, the isolated model is two-dimensional, obeying the here described quantum mechanical computation, whereas from the viewpoint of the observer, it is three-dimensional, due to the thermally induced rotation.