Fine structure constant
In physics,
the fine structure constant
(usually denoted α, the Greek letter alpha) is a
fundamental physical constant, namely the coupling constant
characterizing the strength of the electromagnetic interaction. Being a
dimensionless quantity, it has constant numerical value in all systems of
units. Arnold Sommerfeld introduced the fine-structure
constant in 1916.
The current
recommended value of α is 7.29735257×10−3.
[1]
Contents
Definition
Some
equivalent definitions of α in terms of other fundamental
physical constants are:

where:
In
electrostatic cgs units, the unit of electric
charge, the statcoulomb, is defined so that the
Coulomb constant, ke,
or the permittivity factor, 4πε0, is 1 and dimensionless. Then
the expression of the fine structure constant becomes the abbreviated
![]()
an
expression commonly appearing in physics literature.
Bohr model
In the Bohr
model of hydrogen atom α is connected to the atom parameters
for the first energy level
![]()
where
is the speed of electron’s matter at the Bohr
radius
.
On the other hand

where
is the Compton wavelength of the electron,
is the classical electron radius,
is the Rydberg
constant for wavelength.
The next
equation for α is

where
is the magnetic flux quantum,
is the electron magnetic flux for the first
energy level,
is the magnetic field in electron disc with
flat surface area
, and
is velocity
circulation quantum for electron.
Another
equation for α is

where
m2/s
is the strong
gravitational torsion flux quantum, which is related to proton and to its
velocity circulation quantum,
and the
strong gravitational electron torsion flux for the first energy level of
hydrogen atom is
![]()
while
is the gravitational torsion
field of strong gravitation in
electron disc.
The Bohr
model for hydrogen system at the
level of star introduces α in such way:
![]()
where
and
– mass of the star-analogue of proton and the
planet-analogue of electron, respectively,
– stellar Dirac constant,
– characteristic speed of
stars matter.
See also
Many of articles
in Vikiversity make reference to the fine structure constant, or discuss its
relationship to other physical quantities. Examples
are:
References
External links
Source: http://sergf.ru/fscen.htm