ultraviolet catastrophe
ultraviolet catastrophe noun: a fault in classical physics, from the Rayleigh's law/Rayleigh-Jeans law outcomes at short wavelengths/high frequencies, that causes infinite amplification of shorter wavelength/higher frequency radiation inside a cavity, due to the application of equipartition theorem on black body radiation within a cavity.
Noun
ultraviolet catastrophe
- A fault in classical physics, from the Rayleigh's law/Rayleigh-Jeans law outcomes at short wavelengths/high frequencies, that causes infinite amplification of shorter wavelength/higher frequency radiation inside a cavity, due to the application of equipartition theorem on black body radiation within a cavity.
- Synonyms:
- Rayleigh-Jeans catastrophe, Rayleigh catastrophe, Rayleigh's catastrophe
ultraviolet catastrophe meaning in Tamil
ultraviolet catastrophe in Tamil
- புறஊதா பேரழிவு
Synonyms of ultraviolet catastrophe
- Rayleigh-Jeans catastrophe
- Rayleigh catastrophe
- Rayleigh's catastrophe
Origin of ultraviolet catastrophe
Coined by Paul Ehrenfest in 1911 in German. Ultraviolet represents that end of the spectrum, given that the visible spectrum represents a stand-in for the whole electromagnetic spectrum, and infrared and ultraviolet are stand-ins for the endpoints. This usage is similar to that represented by the logic behind the terms "redshift" and "blueshift", which assume endpoints of red and blue.
Questions about ultraviolet catastrophe
- What does ultraviolet catastrophe mean?
- Ultraviolet catastrophe means a fault in classical physics, from the Rayleigh's law/Rayleigh-Jeans law outcomes at short wavelengths/high frequencies, that causes infinite amplification of shorter wavelength/higher frequency radiation inside a cavity, due to the application of equipartition theorem on black body radiation within a cavity.
- What is ultraviolet catastrophe in Tamil?
- Ultraviolet catastrophe in Tamil is புறஊதா பேரழிவு. See Ultraviolet catastrophe meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is ultraviolet catastrophe?
- Ultraviolet catastrophe is a noun.
Words near ultraviolet catastrophe in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ultraviolet catastrophe (page history and authors); ultraviolet catastrophe (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “ultraviolet catastrophe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ultraviolet_catastrophe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
