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arXiv · 1603.00299

Surprises in numerical expressions of physical constants

Ariel Amir·Mikhail Lemeshko·Tadashi Tokieda
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Abstract

In science, as in life, `surprises' can be adequately appreciated only in the presence of a null model, what we expect a priori. In physics, theories sometimes express the values of dimensionless physical constants as combinations of mathematical constants like pi or e. The inverse problem also arises, whereby the measured value of a physical constant admits a `surprisingly' simple approximation in terms of well-known mathematical constants. Can we estimate the probability for this to be a mere coincidence, rather than an inkling of some theory? We answer the question in the most naive form.

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Ariel Amir, Mikhail Lemeshko, Tadashi Tokieda. 2016-02-26. Surprises in numerical expressions of physical constants. https://arxiv.org/abs/1603.00299

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