Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2021 November 3

= November 3 =

terminology about luminescence and fluorescence
I'm curious to know if biologists, chemists, and physicists have different words for the same thing? I wonder if physicists have their own word for what chemists call chemiluminescence and fluorescence. Like, what do physicists call the concept behind glow-in-the-dark toys? If inorganic semiconductors do fluorescence, we all call them quantum dots. 67.165.185.178 (talk) 14:27, 3 November 2021 (UTC).
 * Not as far as I know. There are two different physical processes that can lead to luminescence known as fluorescence and phosphorescence, which are different processes, and not two different names from different fields.  It should also be noted that chemiluminescence is yet another different process.  AFAIK, there are not different terms in use among different fields for these processes.  -- Jayron 32 15:52, 3 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Sometimes you'll see things just called "luminescence spectra" as a catchall term, but I've seen that from chemists, biologists, and physicists. If they don't want to get into specific details like intersystem crossing of electronic states and spins, lifetime effects, etc., it can often be OK to just use "luminescence." An example would be an more simple analytical application that just makes use of the wavelength and intensity of the luminescence, but doesn't necessarily care about the specific electronics of the system undergoing transitions. --OuroborosCobra (talk) 16:22, 3 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Also, as the OP mentioned quantum dots, it should be noted that this is also a distinct phenomenon on its own, and not a synonym for luminescence used by one branch of science. -- Jayron 32 16:29, 3 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Afaik, quantum dots is simply something that absorbs UV and emits light, but only when that something is an inorganic semiconductor, possibly set at a small but defined length. And now, they're inventing ways to make quantum dots absorb IR, and still emit light, which is now anti-Stokes shifts. 67.165.185.178 (talk) 00:17, 4 November 2021 (UTC).


 * In biology, it's bioluminescence. -- 107.15.157.44 (talk) 08:06, 4 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Our article Luminescence contains a long list of types. --Lambiam 10:59, 4 November 2021 (UTC)