Pythagoras may had been right all along, that our universe are govern by numbers. In this case, physicists are intrigue by the number 137 or to be precise, 1/137. It is known as alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabets or the fine structure constant.

What is so special about this number 137 ?

This number is special as it unite relativity, electromagnetism and quantum mechanics. The famous physicist, the late Richard Feynman thinks 137 holds the answers to the Universe. The number may hold clues to hold the clues to the Grand Unified Theory. Furthermore,

Here is the quote from the article:

Does the Universe around us have a fundamental structure that can be glimpsed through special numbers?

The brilliant physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988) famously thought so, saying there is a number that all theoretical physicists of worth should “worry about”. He called it “one of the greatest damn mysteries of physics: a magic number that comes to us with no understanding by man”.

That magic number, called the fine structure constant, is a fundamental constant, with a value which nearly equals 1/137. Or 1/137.03599913, to be precise. It is denoted by the Greek letter alpha – α.

The number is also special because it’s regarded as the best example of a pure number, which is a number that doesn’t need units. It combines three of nature’s fundamental constants – the speed of light, the electric charge carried by one electron, and the Planck’s constant

Is this a coincidence? That the idea of a special number is used to understand the universe sounds very familiar to the concept of numerology. The current modern numerology has its roots from the numerology concept developed by Pythagoras a few thousand years ago.

In Pythagoras numerology, he began his theory of numbers by discovering the numerical relationship between numbers and musical notes. He found that the vibrations in stringed instruments could be mathematically explained. From here he further went on stating that everything in the universe have their own vibration that are unique and he assigned numbers representing vibration.

Will one day the advancement in Physics proved the concepts of numerology. This is hard to answer, but one thing is for sure from the article and that is physicists are obsessed with numbers. Like the case of Wolfgang Pauli, a Noble Prize winning physicists. A quote from the article showed how obsessed he is with numbers.

The number preoccupied other great physicists as well, including the Nobel Prize winning Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958) who was obsessed with it his whole life.

This may be due to the fact that the language of mathematics is the language of physics and there is no other way other than using mathematics to understand how the universe works.

But do you realized that numbers are the foundation of mathematics. And if it is possible for vibration of musical notes to be expressed with numbers than Pythagoras is really not far off of with his concepts in numerology.

Read more of this special number in the source below: