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It might seem counter-intuitive for gaps to be formed in a "continuous spectrum", but according to Planck energy carried by a photon is quantised and can have only discrete values so therefore accordingly the wavenumber should also be quantised and have only discrete values. Does that mean that when we use an ultra-powerful hypothetical microscope we should be able to see gaps between discrete lines in a continuous spectrum

(hypothetical because how would you see gaps between light using light? wouldn't Heisenberg be disappointed? especially when then the gap is very minute? or maybe we might be using sensitive detectors to see if there are gaps between photons or something I didn't consider)

Qmechanic
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Adil Mohammed
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1 Answers1

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Quantisation does not work like that. In the case of light it is more like requiring that a pile of debris is made of discrete rocks (photons), but those rocks can be any size (energy). The uncertainty principle means that even if you arrange the rocks in a "spectrum" of sizes from planetary core to dust, these sizes will blur into one another and the spectrum will be smooth.

Guy Inchbald
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