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The number that fascinates physicists above all others
Cosmos Magazine ^ | Paul Davies

Posted on 02/20/2016 2:09:29 PM PST by MtnClimber

"God is a pure mathematician!" declared British astronomer Sir James Jeans. The physical Universe does seem to be organised around elegant mathematical relationships. And one number above all others has exercised an enduring fascination for physicists: 137.03599913.

Let me explain. When scientists measure any quantity they must specify the units being used. The speed of light, for example, is either 186,000 or 300,000 depending on whether it is expressed as miles per second or kilometres per second. Likewise your weight might be 150 or 68 according to whether you are measuring in pounds or kilograms. Without knowing the units being used the number is meaningless - unless it is a pure number.

The best known example of a pure number comes from combining three of nature's most fundamental quantities: the speed of light, the electric charge carried by a single electron and Planck's constant of quantum mechanics. In symbols, that's c, e and h. Put them together as follows, hc/2Ï€e2, and the units of c, e and h cancel out to leave a pure number, 137.03599913. If c, e and h were measured by Vulcan scientists using Vulcan units, they would still get 137.03599913. This curious number is therefore a universal constant of nature - "God given" Jeans might have said.

In view of its importance, hc/2πe2 has acquired a name and a symbol all of its own. For historical reasons the inverse, 2πe2/hc = 1/137.03599913, is used. It is known as the fine-structure constant and is denoted by the Greek letter alpha (α).

(Excerpt) Read more at cosmosmagazine.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: cosmosmagazine; finestructure; math; numbers; origins; pauldavies; physics; purenumber; science; stringtheory
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To: sparklite2

Yeah, but then you have to remember where to insert the decimal place! What a bunch of useless rubbish.


41 posted on 02/20/2016 3:37:13 PM PST by Darth Reardon (During the Great Depression, World War I was referred to as the Great War)
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To: beethovenfan
...and i^i = e^(-pi/2)

I don't care if ¿Jeb? said to, I'm *still* gonna clap!

42 posted on 02/20/2016 3:43:27 PM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: sparklite2; All

Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” entire poem is a mnemonic for pi to the first 740 places... Here are the first 80...

Poe, E.: Near a Raven. Midnights so dreary, tired and weary.

Silently pondering volumes extolling all by-now obsolete lore.

During my rather long nap-the weirdest tap!

An ominous vibrating sound disturbing my chamber’s antedoor.

‘This,’ I whispered quietly, ‘I ignore.’

Perfectly, the intellect remembers: the ghostly fires, a glittering ember.

Inflamed by lightning’s outbursts, windows cast penumbras upon this floor.

Sorrowful, as one mistreated, unhappy thoughts I heeded:

That inimitable lesson in elegance—Lenore—

Is delighting, exciting... nevermore.


43 posted on 02/20/2016 3:45:47 PM PST by mugsaway
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To: mugsaway

source: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PiWordplay.html


44 posted on 02/20/2016 3:48:31 PM PST by mugsaway
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To: mugsaway

I’ll be darned. I had no idea.


45 posted on 02/20/2016 3:55:40 PM PST by sparklite2 ( "The white man is the Jew of Liberal Fascism." -Jonah Goldberg)
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To: mugsaway

From your link ... the above poem is not by Poe, but is based on his poem.


46 posted on 02/20/2016 3:58:08 PM PST by sparklite2 ( "The white man is the Jew of Liberal Fascism." -Jonah Goldberg)
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To: sparklite2

My mistake... I misread the page... THANKS!


47 posted on 02/20/2016 4:02:43 PM PST by mugsaway
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To: sparklite2

That’s neat! Thank you.


48 posted on 02/20/2016 4:02:55 PM PST by Aliska ("No bank is too big to fail, and no executive is too powerful to jail." HRC 1/24/16)
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To: Aliska

Is not π


49 posted on 02/20/2016 4:03:25 PM PST by AFreeBird
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To: beethovenfan
I haven't seen that before and it uses the Euler identity in the derivation
Fascinating
50 posted on 02/20/2016 4:09:52 PM PST by HangnJudge (Cthulhu for President, why vote for a lesser Evil)
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To: MtnClimber

bump for later


51 posted on 02/20/2016 4:18:46 PM PST by Albion Wilde (Who can actually defeat the Democrats in 2016? -- the most important thing about all candidates.)
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To: qman; MtnClimber

Is that the Fibonacci Sequence?


52 posted on 02/20/2016 4:24:47 PM PST by Bodleian_Girl (Fort Marcy Park - It's how Bernie gets more votes but Hilary wins the state)
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To: AFreeBird

Arg. That’s supposed to be the symbol for Pi


53 posted on 02/20/2016 4:27:14 PM PST by AFreeBird
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To: qman

1.67 feet is the distance one knot travels in one second, basically.


54 posted on 02/20/2016 4:56:48 PM PST by Hulka
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To: Jonty30

It is somewhat golden.


55 posted on 02/20/2016 4:59:26 PM PST by patton ("I ought to know what I'm doing, I have the best damned intelligence officer in any United States c.)
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To: MtnClimber

Yes.

As I recall,

pi = 4 - 4/3 + 4/5 - 4/7 + 4/9 - 4/11....

it converges very slowly.


56 posted on 02/20/2016 5:01:57 PM PST by scrabblehack
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To: Go_Raiders
snort. Your humor wasn't lost on everyone.
57 posted on 02/20/2016 5:22:13 PM PST by 10mm
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To: Go_Raiders

Actually, the chance of Planck’s Constant being what it is, is 100%. If it were any other value, no one would be around to measure it.


58 posted on 02/20/2016 5:30:06 PM PST by 10mm
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To: qman

I think you are looking for Phi:
1·61803 39887 49894 84820 45868 34365 63811 77203 09179 ...

Otherwise known as the golden section...


59 posted on 02/20/2016 5:35:52 PM PST by NonLinear (Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.)
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To: MtnClimber

Multiply by 137.03599913


60 posted on 02/20/2016 6:03:33 PM PST by SgtHooper (If you remember the 60's, YOU WEREN'T THERE!)
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