10

ity” of these states on which their relative occurrence in a

distribution of statistical equilibrium depends. He shows,
however, how it is possible from the above general assump-
tions, by means of Boltzmann’s principle on the relation
between entropy and probability and Wien’s well known
displacement-law, to deduce a formula for the temperature
radiation which apart from an undetermined constant fac-
tor coincides with Planck’s, if we only assume that the
frequency corresponding to the transition between the two
states is determined by (1). It will therefore be seen that by
reversing the line of argument, Einstein’s theory may be
considered as a very direct support of the latter relation.
In the following discussion of the application of the quan-
tum theory to determine the line-spectrum of a given system,
it will, just as in the theory of temperature-radiation, not be
necessary to introduce detailed assumptions as to the mech-
anism of transition between two stationary states. We shall
show, however, that the conditions which will be used to
determine the values of the energy in the stationary states
are of such a type that the frequencies calculated by (1), in
the limit where the motions in successive stationary states
comparatively differ very little from each other, will tend to
coincide with the frequencies to be expected on the ordinary
theory of radiation from the motion of the system in the
stationary states. In order to obtain the necessary relation
to the ordinary theory of radiation in the limit of slow vi-
brations, we are therefore led directly to certain conclusions
about the probability of transition between two stationary