Going back over "On the Electrodynamics of Moving bodies" I noticed
that a spherical wave has energy E wrt the source and energy E' wrt a
moving observer and that these are related by
E'/E = sqrt((1 - v/c)/(1 + v/c)).
Einstein then notes that
"[...] It is remarkable that the energy and frequency of a light
complex vary with the state of motion of the observer in accordance
with the same law [...]"
Now I'm not the brightest crayon in the box, having only recently
signed a truce with special relativity, as most of you already know,
but doesn't it follow from this that:
E'/E = f'/f
and that
E' = Ef'/f
and that if we let
E/f = h
we get
E' = hf'
and reciprocally that
E = hf
for any spherical light bundle?
And since E and F can be found, wouldn't it follow from this that h
can be calculated directly from Maxwell/Lorentz?
Is this the very knowledge that led Einstein to his derivation of the
photoelectric effect?
The reason that I ask, is that if the above is correct, then for the
first time I'll have gained some understanding of the natural
relationship between QM and special relativity.
BTW, this is a great paper when not being read with preconceptions :)
Richard Perry
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