The physical basis of natural units and truly fundamental constants
Abstract
The natural unit system, in which the value of fundamental constants such as c and h are set equal to one and all quantities are expressed in terms of a single unit, is usually introduced as a calculational convenience. However, we demonstrate that this system of natural units has a physical justification as well. We discuss and review the natural units, including definitions for each of the seven base units in the International System of Units (SI) in terms of a single unit. We also review the fundamental constants, which can be classified as units-dependent or units-independent. Units-independent constants, whose values are not determined by human conventions of units, may be interpreted as inherent constants of nature.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1112.6332,
title = {The physical basis of natural units and truly fundamental constants},
author = {Leonardo Hsu and Jong-Ping Hsu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1112.6332},
year = {2014}
}
Comments
17 pages, to be published in European Physical Journal-Plus, The final publication is available at www.epj.org