The Fine Structure Alpha Constant 1/137

In physics, the fine-structure constant, also known as the Sommerfeld constant, commonly denoted by α, is a fundamental physical constant which quantifies the strength of the electromagnetic interaction between elementary charged particles.

α = Fine-structure constant (alpha)

ε0 = electric constant

e = elementary charge

ħ = reduced Planck constant

c = speed of light in a vacuum

Numerically, the fine-structure constant, denoted by the Greek letter α (alpha), comes very close to the ratio 1/137. It commonly appears in formulas governing light and matter. The fine-structure constant has no dimensions or units. It’s a pure number that shapes the universe to an astonishing degree. In the physics of low-energy matter — atoms, molecules, chemistry, biology — there’s always a ratio of bigger things to smaller things. Those ratios tend to be powers of the fine-structure constant.

Because 1/137 is small, electromagnetism is weak; as a consequence, charged particles form airy atoms whose electrons orbit at a distance and easily hop away, enabling chemical bonds. On the other hand, the constant is also just big enough: Physicists have argued that if it was something like 1/138, stars would not be able to create carbon, and life as we know it wouldn’t exist.

The structure of 'space' appears to be constant across the universe but how can we define this structure because it defines distance, time, gravity and controls the speed of light. Perhaps the constant α defines this structure and is the most significant number representing a binding agent glueing our universe together and preventing chaos. Remember the earlier article where results built on previous studies by Vopson, who postulated that information (including constants) is the fifth state of matter (alongside solid, liquid, gas, and plasma) and that Dark Matter itself could be information?