Is there a connection between "dark" and "light" physics?

Abstract

In the early-mid 20${}^{\mathrm{th}}$ century Dirac and Zel'dovich were among the first scientists to suggest an intimate connection between cosmology and atomic physics. Though a revolutionary proposal for its time, Dirac's Large Number Hypothesis (1937) adopted a standard assumption of the day, namely, the non-existence of the cosmological constant term ($\Lambda =0$). As a result, its implementation necessitated extreme violence to the theory of general relativity -- something few physicists were prepared to sacrifice in favour of `numerology' -- requiring a time-dependent gravitational coupling of the form $G(t)\sim 1/t$. Zel'dovich's insight (1968) was to realise that a small but nonzero cosmological term ($\Lambda >0$) allowed the present day radius of the Universe to be identified with the de Sitter radius, $r_{\mathrm{U}}\simeq l_{\mathrm{dS}}\simeq 1/\sqrt{\Lambda }$, which removed the need for time-dependence in the fundamental couplings. Thus, he obtained the formula $\Lambda \simeq m^6{G}^2/{\hslash }^4$, where $m$ is a mass scale characterising the relative strengths of the gravitational and electromagnetic interactions, which he identified with the proton mass $m_{\mathrm{p}}$. In this paper, we review a number of recent arguments which, instead, suggest the identification $m=m_{\mathrm{e}}/{\alpha }_{\mathrm{e}}$, where $m_{\mathrm{e}}$ is the electron mass and ${\alpha }_{\mathrm{e}}=e^2/\hslash c\simeq 1/137$ is the usual fine structure constant. We note that these are of a {\it physical} nature and, therefore, represent an attempt to lift previous arguments \emph{{\` a} la} Dirac from the realm of numerology into the realm of empirical science. If valid, such arguments suggest an intimate connection, not only between the macroscopic and microscopic worlds, but, perhaps even more surprisingly, between the very essence of "dark" and "light" physics.

12 pages, no figures. Proceedings of the 6th IF+YITP International Symposium, Naresuan University, August 2016. Published version. Typos corrected, updated references (v3)

References in corpus (55)

• Planck 2013 results. XVI. Cosmological parameters
• Improved cosmological constraints from a joint analysis of the SDSS-II and SNLS supernova samples
• Planck 2013 results. I. Overview of products and scientific results
• The holographic principle
• Quantum gravity and minimum length
• Minimal Length Scale Scenarios for Quantum Gravity
• A time varying speed of light as a solution to cosmological puzzles
• Information Loss in Black Holes
• Cosmologies with Varying Light-Speed
• New varying speed of light theories
• First evidence of running cosmic vacuum: challenging the concordance model
• The Holographic Principle
• Planck intermediate results. XXII. Frequency dependence of thermal emission from Galactic dust in intensity and polarization
• Minimum mass-radius ratio for charged gravitational objects
• Planck intermediate results. XXIX. All-sky dust modelling with Planck, IRAS, and WISE observations
• Minimum Length from Quantum Mechanics and Classical General Relativity
• Varying-$\alpha$ Theories and Solutions to the Cosmological Problems
• Do Black Holes Destroy Information?
• Physics of dark energy particles
• The black hole information paradox
• Can a changing $\alpha$ explain the Supernovae results?
• Cosmological Horizons, Uncertainty Principle and Maximum Length Quantum Mechanics
• Does the cosmological constant imply the existence of a minimum mass?
• Minimum Length from First Principles
• Sub-millimeter Spatial Oscillations of Newton's Constant: Theoretical Models and Laboratory Tests
• Cosmological Bounds on Spatial Variations of Physical Constants
• Mass bounds for compact spherically symmetric objects in generalized gravity theories
• Is Mass Quantized?
• Generalized Uncertainty Principle and Self-dual Black Holes
• Charge conservation and time-varying speed of light
• Holography and the large number hypothesis
• The Compton-Schwarzschild correspondence from extended de Broglie relations
• Observational constraint on the varying speed of light theory
• Axiomatic approach to the cosmological constant
• Cosmological Constant, Fine Structure Constant and Beyond
• The minimum mass of a spherically symmetric object in $D$-dimensions, and its implications for the mass hierarchy problem
• The minimum mass of a charged spherically symmetric object in $D$ dimensions, its implications for fundamental particles, and holography
• Solutions to Cosmological Problems with Energy Conservation and Varying c, G and Lambda
• Quantum Foam, Gravitational Thermodynamics, and the Dark Sector
• Mid- and far-infrared fine-structure line sensitivities to hypothetical variability of the fine-structure constant
• Dark energy and Equivalence Principle constraints from astrophysical tests of the stability of the fine-structure constant
• The Large Number Coincidence, The Cosmic Coincidence and the Critical Acceleration
• Variable Speed of Light Cosmology: An Alternative to Inflation
• The Compton-Schwarzschild relations in higher dimensions
• Dimensionless cosmology
• Observational Constraints on Varying Alpha in $\Lambda (\alpha )$CDM Cosmology
• Which quantum theory must be reconciled with gravity? (And what does it mean for black holes?)
• A new mass scale, implications on black hole evaporation and holography
• A new length scale, and modified Einstein-Cartan-Dirac equations for a point mass
• Local Varying-Alpha Theories
• A Model of Varying Fine Structure Constant and Varying Speed of Light
• Cosmological Ohm's law and dynamics of non-minimal electromagnetism
• A Generalisation of the Nielsen-Olesen Vortex: Non-cylindrical strings in a modified Abelian-Higgs model
• Variation of the fine structure constant and the electron mass at early Universe
• Cosmology with a time-varying speed of light

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Generalised uncertainty relations from superpositions of geometries
• Generalised uncertainty relations for angular momentum and spin in quantum geometry
• Constraints on Spatially Oscillating Sub-mm Forces from the Stanford Levitated Microsphere Experiment Data
• Mass - radius ratio bounds for compact objects in Lorentz-violating dRGT Massive Gravity theory
• Does space-time torsion determine the minimum mass of gravitating particles?
• The QCD mass gap and quark deconfinement scales as mass bounds in strong gravity
• A New Approach to Generalised Uncertainty Relations
• Series solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger-Newton equations in the presence of dark energy via the Adomian Decomposition Method
• Fractal properties of particle paths due to generalised uncertainty relations