The New SI and the Fundamental Constants of Nature

Abstract

The launch in 2019 of the new international system of units is an opportunity to highlight the key role that the fundamental laws of physics and chemistry play in our lives and in all the processes of basic research, industry and commerce. The main objective of these notes is to present the new SI in an accessible way for a wide audience. After reviewing the fundamental constants of nature and its universal laws, the new definitions of SI units are presented using, as a unifying principle, the discrete nature of energy, matter and information in these universal laws. The new SI system is here to stay: although the experimental realizations may change due to technological improvements, the definitions will remain unaffected. Quantum metrology is expected to be one of the driving forces to achieve new quantum technologies of the second generation. ----- La puesta en marcha en 2019 del nuevo sistema internacional de unidades es una oportunidad para resaltar el papel fundamental que las leyes fundamentales de la F\'ısica y la Qu\'ımica juegan en nuestra vida y en todos los procesos de la investigación fundamental, la industria y el comercio. El principal objetivo de estas notas es presentar el nuevo SI de forma accesible para una audiencia amplia. Tras repasar las constantes fundamentales de la naturaleza y sus leyes universales, se presentan las nuevas definiciones de las unidades SI utilizando como principio unificador la naturaleza discreta de la energ\'ıa, la materia y la información en esas leyes universales. El nuevo sistema SI tiene vocación de futuro: aunque las realizaciones experimentales cambien por mejoras tecnolgicas, las definiciones permanecerán inalteradas. La Metrolog\'ıa cuántica está llamada a ser uno de las fuerzas motrices para conseguir nuevas tecnolog\'ıas cuánticas de segunda generación.

Revtex file, color figures. English version y en español

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• The number of fundamental constants from a spacetime-based perspective