Fine-structure constant
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In physics, the fine-structure constant, also known as the Sommerfeld constant, commonly denoted by α, is a fundamental physical constant that quantifies the strength of the electromagnetic interactio
Sommerfeld memorial at LMU Munich
Wolfgang Pauli
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Wolfgang Ernst Pauli was an Austrian theoretical physicist and a pioneer of quantum mechanics. In 1945, after having been nominated by Albert Einstein, Pauli received the Nobel Prize in Physics "for t
Fine-structure constant
…but precisely the integer 137. By the 1940s experimental values for 1/ α deviated sufficiently from 137 to refute Eddington's arguments. Physicist Wolfgang Pauli commented on the appearance of certain numbers in physics, including the fine-structure constant, which he also noted approximates reciprocal of the…
Pauli in 1945
Wolfgang Pauli lecturing (1929)
Wolfgang Pauli, c. 1924