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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 ...
Still... Wow.
I agree with your conclusion, as I have only visited this one universe (so far...)
Yes.
I was never great at math, so I’ll stick with 42.
But thanks anyway - fascinating stuff.
¿=øñ+¡éóò
EUREKA!!!
They are annoying, aren’t they?
Or a programmer to our virtual world...
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