String Instrument as Model of Blackbody Radiation

A string instrument like a guitar or piano offers a conceptual model of blackbody radiation which can help to remove the mystery surrounding this phenomenon. The sound of a string instrument is generated by plucking strings in contact through bridges with a soundboard which generates sound waves in the surrounding air.  The basic mathematical model takes the form:

• wave equation for soundboard + acoustic damping force = string force,

where the acoustic damping force models the sound force output from the instrument and the string force is the force on the soundboard transmitted from a plucked string through bridges. 

The analysis presented on Computational Blackbody Radiation shows the following fundamental relation as a consequence of resonance between sound board and string: 

• output sound energy = string energy 

which is to be compared with a case of non-resonance:

• output sound energy < < string energy.

We see that a soundboard in resonance with a string transmits the full string plucking energy into output sound energy, while in the case on non-resonance only a small fraction is transmitted, see PS below for some more details.

In blackbody radiation this phenomenon comes out as high emissivity in the case of resonance and low emissivity in the case of non-resonance. 

For example, CO2 has a main resonance at wave number 667, which gives high emissivity for wave numbers close to 667 independent of concentration, but low emissivity away from 667.

CO2 alarmism is based on high emissivity of atmospheric CO2 in the whole wave number band 600 - 800, which however most likely is an incorrect assumption.

PS The analysis on Computational Blackbody Radiation exhibits a phenomenon of near-resonance under small acoustic damping with the string force being in-phase with the soundboard displacement (and thus out-of-phase with the soundboard velocity), as the key to a good instrument with string and soundboard working together to produce a good sound.