﻿666 Sir J. J. Thomson : Further Studies on 



On the Origin of the Chains. 

 If we consider the state of things inside a solid, we can 

 I think see reasons for believing that the existence of moAang 

 chains of electrons is probable. The solid is traversed by 

 the radiation corresponding to the radiation from a black 

 body at the temperature of the solid. This radiation consists 

 of a series of discrete pulses, each pulse being the seat of 

 intense electrical forces. When the effect of these pulses is 

 represented by a Fourier series of waves, the wave-length 

 for which the intensity of the light is a maximum is inversely 

 proportional to the absolute temperature, and at 0° 0. is 

 about 10~ 3 cm. 



We may suppose that the linear dimensions of the regions 

 occupied by individual pulses are grouped about a mean 

 which varies inversely as the absolute temperature, and 

 which is large compared with the distance between two 

 electrons. Thus the radiation will furnish fields of: electric 

 force which have a high and fairly constant value over a 

 length which includes a good many electrons; and the 

 electrons in a lattice will from time to time be exposed to 

 electric forces extending over a considerable length, and 

 thus a chain of electrons will be started in motion as a 

 whole. We should expect the average length of the chain 

 to be inversely proportional to the absolute temperature. 

 Moreover, such chains of electrons moving past the atoms 

 would themselves tend to set up pulses of radiation, the 

 dimensions of the pulse being commensurate with the length 

 of the chain. Thus there would be a kind of regenerative 

 action ; the radiation would tend to produce the chains, while 

 the chains would tend to produce the radiation. When the 

 two processes got into equilibrium the radiation would be 

 that corresponding to the black body radiation at the 

 temperature of the solid, while the average kinetic energy 

 of the chains would be proportional to the absolute temper- 

 ature. 



When the solid is not acted upon by electric forces, there 

 will be as many of these chains moving in any one direction 

 as in the two opposite, so that there will be no current of 

 electricity through the solid as a whole. The motion of the 

 chains will give rise to ''local currents^ whose distribution 

 might be affected by magnetic forces. 



We shall now consider the effect of an electric force on 

 the motion of the chains. 



On the old theory that the electrons moved freely through 

 the metal and kept striking against its atoms, the result of an 

 electric force X was to give to the electrons an average 



