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The relation between linewidth and energy of an emitted photon

Physics Asked by d3V on March 16, 2021

I was looking at Heisenberg’s uncertainty problems and came across a question asking for the linewidth of an emitted photon. I seem to remember that linewidth is measured in units of energy but I am unsure how to go about calculating it.

One Answer

You need an infinite amount of time to measure frequency with perfect accuracy. Conversely, an instanteous measurement gives no information about frequency. So the time-span of the measurement needs to be specified before you can say anything about the line-width. Line-width often refers to frequency bandwidth and thus to a range of energies via Planck's constant, h$Delta$f = $Delta$E. The uncertainty principle is usually quoted as $Delta$E. $Delta$T = h/4$pi$. In contrast to the classical position-momentum uncertainty principle, there is less clarity in the interpretation of the energy-time uncertainty.

Answered by Roger Wood on March 16, 2021

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