The Role of Fundamental Constants, Fine Tuning and the Anthropic Principle in the Evolution of Our Universe

^{Credit: NASA / CXC / M.Weiss}

^{By Amal Pushp, Affiliate Physicist at the Resonance Science Foundation}

Since the epochal event of the big bang, several physical parameters have been responsible for the evolution of the universe and for keeping it sustainable for various life forms as we know it. In this article we will discuss three such parameters or principles starting with the fundamental or coupling constants. A fundamental constant is an important part of any physical law. Some of the famous fundamental constants of interest to physicists include but are not restricted to the speed of light, the gravitational constant, Planck’s constant, the fine-structure constant, and many more. For more information, look at the table below that gives a non-exhaustive list of fundamental constants.

Another topic of relevance and our second principle in the title is the concept of fine-tuning according to which even a slight deviation between the values of physical observables corresponding to a particular phenomenon could have resulted in a great disbalance, maybe the universe couldn’t have existed at all. Physicists have long been researching the fine-tuned nature of the universe, and fundamental constants are intimately related to fine tuning, for example cosmologists Bernard Carr and Martin Rees have explicitly described in an early paper how various interactions are determined by the combination of only a few fundamental constants [1]. Up till now, essentially all the different scales have been considered (ranging from elementary particles, atoms, black holes, planetary and stellar systems, galaxies, superclusters, etc) and the corresponding phenomena that take place at those scales. Understanding the correlation between the different scales is important as it is crucial to get a coherent picture of various phenomena taking place in nature and to understand why things are the way they are. 

According to Martin Rees, the fine-tuning of the universe can be accounted for using only six parameters which are essentially dimensionless physical constants [2]. These are N (ratio of the electromagnetic force to the gravitational force between a pair of protons), Epsilon (Nuclear efficiency of fusion from hydrogen to helium ~ 0.007), Omega Ω (density parameter ~ 1), Lambda (Cosmological constant ), Q (a measure of how tightly bound the large clusters and superclusters of galaxies are) and finally, D (the number of spatial dimensions in our universe which is 3).

^{Credit: CODATA}

Our last parameter and another dominant one is the anthropic principle. First proposed by astrophysicist Robert H. Dicke, the principle states that there is a lower bound on how statistically probable our observables in the universe can be because what we observe can be possible only in a universe capable of supporting intelligent life. There are mainly two versions of this principle, one is called the Weak Anthropic Principle (WAP) and the other is known as the Strong Anthropic Principle (SAP). 

In the physics community, it is well believed that Everett’s many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics may well be consistent with the anthropic principle and thus be a hint towards the existence of multiple universes. According to famous physicist John Wheeler, there could be an infinite ensemble of universes all with different coupling constants and since in the Everettian picture there is no room for a wave function collapse, so all the universes with different coupling constants could exist simultaneously. However, the theory lacks serious experimental backing, and which is why it has led some physicists to believe that it is not true. Nevertheless, there are top notch physicists who are quite in favour of the many-worlds or multiverse paradigm. For instance, Martin Rees shares an experience as a panel expert at Stanford which in his own words is reproduced below from the original article and essentially has a humorous touch to it:

“About 15 years ago, I was on a panel at Stanford where we were asked how seriously we took the multiverse concept—on the scale "would you bet your goldfish, your dog, or your life" on it. I said I was nearly at the dog level. Linde said he'd almost bet his life. Later, on being told this, physicist Steven Weinberg said he'd "happily bet Martin Rees' dog and Andrei Linde's life."

RSF in Perspective:

Looking at all these aspects, one thing is explicit and that is the universe is in perfect harmony. This harmony is brought about by the source of creation, irrespective of the name one may associate it with. The correlations among all the known fundamental interactions have led to a universe capable of supporting life in various forms. Thus, it makes a seeker curious to discover how the fundamental forces and their associated coupling constants bind together in a unified way to give us the experience of life and the universe as we know it, and this is exactly where our work at RSF comes into the picture bridging the apparent gap.

Current theorists have figured out the scaling factors corresponding to all the scales ranging from the microscopic to the macroscopic, but they aren’t able to relate them to the fundamental constants. Moreover, physicists are perplexed about the origin of finely tuned values of fundamental constants. As explained by RSF scientist William Brown in his article, “The so-called problem of “fine-tuning” evaporates as soon as we have a theory that explains from first principles the constants and their precise values”. Incidentally, the generalized holographic model of Nassim Haramein which indeed is a first principles approach, does exactly that [3]. Haramein et al, in the new paper entitled “Scale-invariant Unification of Forces, Fields, and Particles in a Quantum Vacuum Plasma”, have devised a scaling law that helps formulate a geometric interpretation of the fine structure constant. Moreover, an exact solution for the fine structure constant would be presented as well. This in combination with other features gives a first principles account of the origin of the constants and help unify them in a single framework.

The work will further demonstrate the unification of scales, establishing a strong link between the scaling factors and the fundamental coupling constants, which would thus act as a reference to tackle and add more clarity to the current issues encircling the fundamentals of physics as well as cosmology.

References

[1] B. J. Carr and M. J. Rees, “The anthropic principle and the structure of the physical world”, Nature vol. 278, 605–612 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/278605a0

[2] Martin Rees, Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe (1st American ed.) New York: Basic Books. p. 4. (May 3, 2001)

[3] N. Haramein, Quantum Gravity and the Holographic Mass, Physical Review & Research International, ISSN: 2231-1815, Page 270-292 (2012).