We show that treating the blackbody radiation field as a heat bath enables
one to utilize powerful techniques from the realm of stochastic physics (such
as the fluctuation-dissipation theorem and the related radiation damping) in
order to treat problems that could not be treated rigorously by conventional
methods. We illustrate our remarks by discussing specifically the effect of
temperature on atomic spectral lines, and the solution to the problem of
runaway solutions in the equation of motion of a radiating electron. We also
present brief discussions relating to anomalous diffusion and wave packet
spreading in a radiation field and the influence of quantum effects on the laws
of thermodynamics.Comment: Contribution to the Festschrift in honor of Professor Walter R.
Johnson on the occasion of his retirement after 50 years at the University of
Notre Dam
