Abstract

The approach to radiative equilibrium of a system of free electrons in a background medium whose index of refraction is larger than unity is studied in the light of the basic principles of elementary nonrelativistic quantum theory. It is shown that the radiative equilibrium arises as a consequence of a balance between Čerenkov emission (spontaneous plus the induced emission) and absorption of photons by the uniformly moving electrons. A coupled pair of equations, one describing the time evolution of the photon distribution function and the other describing the time evolution of the electron distribution function, is thus derived. The equation for the time rate of change of the electron distribution function reduces, in the classical limit, to a Fokker-Planck equation.

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