One of those fundamental constants is known as the fine structure constant, and Sandra Rothfork wants to know what that's all about, asking:Can you please explain the fine structure constant as simply as possible? When you include all of these effects, you can successfully reproduce both the gross and fine structure of matter. Evgeny at English WikipediaThe reason these corrections are so small is because the value of the fine structure constant, α, is also very small. Ed Janssen, ESOBut the fine structure constant, α, is of tremendous interest to physics. Fine structure is a vital part of that, but learning where even our best predictions of fine structure break down might be where the next great revolution in particle physics comes from.

Source: Forbes May 25, 2019 06:00 UTC