Abstract
THE mean life τ0 (τ0 ˜ 2·5 × 10-6 sec.) of a meson at rest gives us a new fundamental constant of the dimension of time which lies intermediate between the ‘atomic constant’ and the ‘cosmological constant’ t0 (t0 ˜ 2 × 102 years). R0 denotes the ‘classical radius’ of the meson, , where the symbols have their usual meaning. We shall take μ = 170 m, where m is the mass of an electron. We can construct from these basic time units (τa, τ0, t0) three dimensionless ‘large numbers', , and if, following Dirac and others, we make the hypothesis that ‘large numbers’ are interrelated, we have In comparing such large numbers any differences by factors of about 103 are to be ignored, as these could be easily taken account of by introducing the dimensionless numbers such as the fine-structure constant hc/e2, μ/m and H/m, H being the mass of a proton. Further, on this hypothesis we can connect the above large numbers with the (familiar) large number e2Gμ2 ˜ 1·4 × 1028 formed from the gravitational constant G and the atomic constants e, μ. We have: Equation (3a) in the form has already been given by Blackett1.
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NATURE, 144, 30 (1939). This has suggested the present communication. It may be noted that if in (4) ? be replaced by the electron mass, L0 becomes the maximum radius possible for a body composed of degenerate matter.
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KOTHARI, D. The Meson and Cosmology. Nature 144, 548 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144548a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144548a0
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