Reasons To Believe
Over the last decade, RTB scholars have written numerous articles highlighting discoveries that demonstrate the constancy of the laws of physics. Discoveries demonstrating this characteristic of the universe affirm the Bible’s description of creation (e.g. Jeremiah 33:25–26). One specific constant is garnering significant coverage. The fine-structure constant, α,
governs the strength of the electromagnetic force. As usually expressed
by physicists, α depends on the speed of light (c), Planck’s constant
(h), and the charge on an electron (e)—so the stability of α implies
stability in the other three.
Astronomers found another way to test for variability in α by looking at spectra from white dwarfs—objects
with masses similar to the Sun but dimensions closer to Earth’s. The
compact nature of white dwarfs means that atoms near the surface
experience gravitational fields more than 10,000 times stronger than
those on Earth’s surface. The increased gravity could cause unexpected
changes in α, but recent measurements limit variations to smaller than one part in 10,000.1 This study produced similar limits as previous research,
but improvements in spectral line values as determined in the
laboratory should increase the sensitivity of these calculations by two
orders of magnitude.
New constraints on α need
not require the use of telescopes and exotic objects out in the
universe. The behavior of electrons in atoms found here on Earth also
probes variations in α. For two years, scientists measured the
frequencies of two specific atomic transitions of the element
dysprosium. Based on this data, the researchers showed that ααvaried by no more than one part in 10-16 per year (or one part in 100,000 over the history of the universe).2 Using a similar experimental setup, the group also constrained violations of special and general relativity (specifically Lorentz invariance and Einstein’s equivalence principle) to one part in 10-17 and one part in 10-8, respectively.3
These measurements add to the growing body of evidence that we live in a universe governed by constant laws of physics, just like the universe described in the Bible.
Endnotes:
- J. C. Berengut et al., “Limits on the Dependence of the Fine-Structure Constant on Gravitational Potential from White-Dwarf Spectra,” Physical Review Letters (July 5, 2013): 010801.
- N. Leefer et al., “New Limits on Variation of the Fine-Structure Constant Using Atomic Dysprosium,” Physical Review Letters 111 (August 9, 2013): 060801.
- M. A. Hohensee et al., “Limits on Violations of Lorentz Symmetry and the Einstein Equivalence Principle Using Radio-Frequency Spectroscopy of Atomic Dysprosium,” Physical Review Letters 111 (August 2, 2013): 050401.
