The Meaning Of The Fine Structure Constant

Abstract

A possible explanation is offered for the longstanding mystery surrounding the meaning of the fine structure constant. The reasoning is based on a discrete self-similar cosmological paradigm that has shown promise in explaining the general scaling properties of nature's global hierarchy. The discrete scale invariance of the paradigm implies that "strong gravity" governs gravitational interactions within atomic scale systems. Given the revised gravitational coupling constant and Planck mass, one can demonstrate that the fine structure constant is the ratio of the strengths of the unit electromagnetic interaction and the unit gravitational interaction within atomic scale systems. [Abridged]