[Vern (OP)]

The idea about what actually is the fine structure constant has puzzled physicists since the discovery that the electric charge magnitude of the electron was tied to observations of fine structure in the spectral lines of starlight.  This constant takes on a special meaning in the consideration of a universe that consists only of electromagnetic phenomena and nothing else. In a universe consisting only of electromagnetic phenomena, the fine structure constant can only be one thing. It must be the ratio of the bend in a photon's path to the magnitude of the electric charge resulting from that bend.

Remember that in a photon-only universe, electric charge derives from asymmetry in electric and magnetic fields of photons. Normally the opposite fields of photons cancel to neutral but when the photon's path is bent, the fields can't completely cancel; the area outside the bend is greater than the area inside the bend. The fine structure constant is the ratio of the charge magnitude to the bend radius. The tighter the bend, the greater the magnitude of the charge.


This Wiki article explains the current thinking about the fine structure constant.

In physics, the fine-structure constant (usually denoted α) is a fundamental physical constant, namely the coupling constant characterizing the strength of the electromagnetic interaction. The numerical value of α is the same in all systems of units, because α is a dimensionless quantity. As of 2007, the best determination of the value of the fine-structure constant is α = 7.297352570(5)×10−3 = 1/137.035999070(98). The standard error is enclosed in parentheses.

"It has been a mystery ever since it was discovered more than fifty years ago, and all good theoretical physicists put this number up on their wall and worry about it. Immediately you would like to know where this number for a coupling comes from: is it related to π or perhaps to the base of natural logarithms? Nobody knows. It's one of the greatest damn mysteries of physics: a magic number that comes to us with no understanding by man. You might say the 'hand of God' wrote that number, and 'we don't know how He pushed his pencil.' We know what kind of a dance to do experimentally to measure this number very accurately, but we don't know what kind of dance to do on the computer to make this number come out, without putting it in secretly!" — Richard P. Feynman (1985), QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, Princeton University Press, p. 129, ISBN 0691083886 .

[Mr. Scientist]

The idea about what actually is the fine structure constant has puzzled physicists since the discovery that the electric charge magnitude of the electron was tied to observations of fine structure in the spectral lines of starlight.  This constant takes on a special meaning in the consideration of a universe that consists only of electromagnetic phenomena and nothing else. In a universe consisting only of electromagnetic phenomena, the fine structure constant can only be one thing. It must be the ratio of the bend in a photon's path to the magnitude of the electric charge resulting from that bend.

Remember that in a photon-only universe, electric charge derives from asymmetry in electric and magnetic fields of photons. Normally the opposite fields of photons cancel to neutral but when the photon's path is bent, the fields can't completely cancel; the area outside the bend is greater than the area inside the bend. The fine structure constant is the ratio of the charge magnitude to the bend radius. The tighter the bend, the greater the magnitude of the charge.


This Wiki article explains the current thinking about the fine structure constant.

In physics, the fine-structure constant (usually denoted α) is a fundamental physical constant, namely the coupling constant characterizing the strength of the electromagnetic interaction. The numerical value of α is the same in all systems of units, because α is a dimensionless quantity. As of 2007, the best determination of the value of the fine-structure constant is α = 7.297352570(5)×10−3 = 1/137.035999070(98). The standard error is enclosed in parentheses.

"It has been a mystery ever since it was discovered more than fifty years ago, and all good theoretical physicists put this number up on their wall and worry about it. Immediately you would like to know where this number for a coupling comes from: is it related to π or perhaps to the base of natural logarithms? Nobody knows. It's one of the greatest damn mysteries of physics: a magic number that comes to us with no understanding by man. You might say the 'hand of God' wrote that number, and 'we don't know how He pushed his pencil.' We know what kind of a dance to do experimentally to measure this number very accurately, but we don't know what kind of dance to do on the computer to make this number come out, without putting it in secretly!" — Richard P. Feynman (1985), QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter, Princeton University Press, p. 129, ISBN 0691083886 .

Fascinating idea's. I never quite realized how much the fine structure was of under great mystery...

[Vern (OP)]

Fascinating idea's. I never quite realized how much the fine structure was of under great mystery...

It would really be fascinating if we could show an equation that would show how the charge amplitude of an electron relates to the wavelength of its constituent photon, then show that this same relationship holds for the wavelength of shells s2 and s3. The value of that charge amplitude on the four shells would sum to the value of the strong nuclear interaction.

[socratus]

a  fine structure constant
‘ by the god given damnation to all physicists ‘.
 / Feynman. /
============== . .

[Vern (OP)]

a  fine structure constant
‘ by the god given damnation to all physicists ‘.
 / Feynman. /
============== . .

Feynman knew that the Fine-Structure constant related to the charge amplitude of an electron, and he knew that it had the same properties as a ratio of one thing to another. Feynman did not know that bending the path of a photon produces electric charge. Had he suspected that, he could have solved the problem. He would have found that the Fine-Structure constant is the ratio of the bend radius in a photon's path to the electric charge produced by the bending.

I suspect it is because he never realized the fundamental cause of quantum phenomena. That fundamental cause is that there is a finite amplitude at which electric and magnetic fields saturate. The central points of photons propagate at this saturation amplitude. All quantum phenomena is a result of this saturation property of space.

Gravity also results from this saturation property. All photon fields contribute toward the saturation of photons moving through them. Photons moving through the fields thus saturate at an offset toward increasing field strength.