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Sir A. S. Eddington's recent theories

1932; IOP Publishing; Volume: 44; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1088/0959-5309/44/3/314

2051-2171

W.N. Bond,

Relativity and Gravitational Theory

The significance of Sir A. S. Eddington's work on the fine-structure constant 2πe2/hc, the ratio of masses of proton and electron MP/m, and on the cosmical constant, is outlined. The experimental verification of his theory of the packing effect and of the rate of recession of spiral nebulae is mentioned. His predictions that hc/2πe2 = 137 and MP/m = 1847.60 are considered in detail. The only evidence against these predictions is that given by four recent experiments, which indicate that e/m = 1.761 × 107 e.m.u. Reasons are given for believing that this value is too low, and that Eddington's predictions are consistent with experiment. It is unlikely that both his predictions require correction terms of the order 1 part in 1847 and it is shown that if MP/m = 1847.60, then