Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Evolution may explain values of the fundamental constants

Were the fundamental constants perhaps not constant over time? A fundamental question? What if they evolved? Food for thought!

"... For decades, physicists have debated the possible explanation for a striking fact of our universe – that the values of many physical constants appear just right for the existence of the world we see around us. Star formation, for example, requires both hydrogen and helium. But this condition depends on a very specific value of the strong nuclear force – any weaker than it actually is and there would have been no helium; but any stronger and all the hydrogen would have converted (to helium). ..."

From the abstract:
"The problem of understanding fundamental physical constants and their values was discussed in particle physics, astronomy, and cosmology. Here, I show that an additional unexpected insight comes from condensed matter physics and liquid physics in particular: Fundamental constants have a biofriendly window constrained by biofriendly viscosity and diffusion setting the motion in essential life processes in and across cells. I also show that bounds on viscosity, diffusion, and the fundamental velocity gradient in a biochemical machine can all be varied while keeping the fine-structure constant and the proton-to-electron mass ratio intact, with no implication for the production of heavy nuclei in stars. This leads to a conjecture of multiple tuning and an evolutionary mechanism."

Evolution may explain values of the fundamental constants – Physics World

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