Re: values of the 26+ fundamental dimensionless constants?

in article d3us1o$1f3$1@xxxxxxxxxxxx, John Baez at baez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote
on 04/18/2005 17:24:

> But, the resulting numbers would all be ridiculously small.
> This is actually one of the basic puzzles in physics:
>
> WHY IS THE PLANCK MASS SO MUCH BIGGER THAN THE PARTICLE MASSES???
>
> or equivalently:
>
> WHY IS GRAVITY SO MUCH "WEAKER" THAN THE OTHER FORCES???

i think the first question is much more meaningful than the latter.
comparing gravity to E&M is comparing apples to oranges because directly
comparing quantities of mass to quantities of electromagnetic charge is
comparing apples to oranges.

it seemed interesting to me that the approximate magnitude difference in the
particle masses to the Planck Mass (which is about the mass of a larger than
average speck of dust, lotsa molecules in it) is about the same magnitude
difference between the Bohr radius and the Planck Length:

a_0/l_P = m_P/m_e * 1/alpha

there's only two orders of magnitude in alpha so the size of atoms has to be
about as many Planck lengths as there are electron masses in the Planck
mass. the electron has to be a helluva lot smaller than the Planck Mass so
that the size of atoms are a helluva lot bigger than the Planck Length.


the real reason i posted this, was because if we're gonna talk about a
"fine-tuned universe" with 26 or so knobs on the control panel, i'd like to
know what those knobs are current thought to be set to. and maybe a
meaningful label (for neanderthal engineers) on each knob. (and then, when
i become god of the universe, i wanna twist those knobs!)

--

r b-j rbj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Infinite precision floating-point
    ... >> is an argument between quantum mechanics and mathematical platonism. ... way this kind of idea arises is in discussion of quantum gravity. ... Planck was actually quite proud that his constant led to these new ... A fundamental subatomic particle of the Planck mass would be ...
    (comp.lang.lisp)
  • Re: Why Should We Quantize Geometry?
    ... >>We all know that the Planck interval of space-time is the shortest ... For a single quantum particle which carries the Planck Mass would have a De ... particles do not feel gravity. ...
    (sci.physics.research)
  • Planck domain fun
    ... >> The Planck constant is the smallest size of anything that there can ... that m becomes the Planck mass, M_p, and since the Planck speed ... the Planck domain, everything is fixed and deterministic, or strictly ... mole of Planck time units = 1 atomic time unit ...
    (sci.chem)
  • Planck domain fun
    ... >> The Planck constant is the smallest size of anything that there can ... that m becomes the Planck mass, M_p, and since the Planck speed ... the Planck domain, everything is fixed and deterministic, or strictly ... mole of Planck time units = 1 atomic time unit ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: There is no smallest because smaller is smaller.
    ... Planck mass, distance, time. ... Planck mass, -distance, -time are only arbitrarily chosen ... units do NOT say anything about the nature of physics or whether it exists, contrary to the belief of Idiot Uncle rect-Al. ... COMPARE measured events to/with measuring units. ...
    (sci.physics)