On Jun 27, 4:32�am, wrote:
The fine structure constant alpha is said to be running
with energy as (from various QED textbooks)

1/alpha(E) = 1/alpha - (1/3 pi) ln (E^2/m^2)

where m is the electron mass, ln the natural logarithm,
and alpha without index is 1/137.036.

But many papers mention that at 90 Gev, alpha is around 1/128.
This is in contradiction with the above formula, which would give
a value of around 133 at 90 GeV.

Is the discrepancy due to the fact that the formula
misses the hadronic corrections?

As a result, what value is expected for alpha at
10^19GeV? Where can one look this up?

Frank

Frank, the fine structure constant is, by definition, the
dimensionless ratio between the electron's electrical potential energy
and rest mass energy. It is unlikely that alpha could "run" with
energy because it is set by the geometry of the electron.

There is another famous dimensionless constant "PI" that is also an
irrational number (goes on forevver without end) that shows these
constants are based on geometric ratios.

I think you are on the right path in looking for some correction to
the measurement methods. The running of their measurement has to be
an artifact of their measurement methods.

See; http://members.aol.com/tnlockyer/CHARGESPIN.pdf

Hope the link works,

Regards, Tom