[{"author":[{"full_name":"Amir, Ariel","first_name":"Ariel","last_name":"Amir"},{"id":"37CB05FA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","full_name":"Lemeshko, Mikhail","first_name":"Mikhail","last_name":"Lemeshko","orcid":"0000-0002-6990-7802"},{"full_name":"Tokieda, Tadashi","last_name":"Tokieda","first_name":"Tadashi"}],"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"intvolume":"       123","doi":"10.4169/amer.math.monthly.123.6.609","publication_status":"published","oa":1,"year":"2016","date_created":"2018-12-11T11:50:42Z","day":"01","publication":"American Mathematical Monthly","issue":"6","department":[{"_id":"MiLe"}],"user_id":"317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345","_id":"1204","page":"609 - 612","date_updated":"2025-09-22T09:39:09Z","quality_controlled":"1","external_id":{"isi":["000381754900010"],"arxiv":["1603.00299"]},"month":"06","publist_id":"6143","volume":123,"isi":1,"date_published":"2016-06-01T00:00:00Z","arxiv":1,"article_processing_charge":"No","title":"Surprises in numerical expressions of physical constants","status":"public","type":"journal_article","oa_version":"Preprint","abstract":[{"text":"In science, as in life, &quot;surprises&quot; can be adequately appreciated only in the presence of a null model, what we expect a priori. In physics, theories sometimes express the values of dimensionless physical constants as combinations of mathematical constants like π or e. The inverse problem also arises, whereby the measured value of a physical constant admits a &quot;surprisingly&quot; simple approximation in terms of well-known mathematical constants. Can we estimate the probability for this to be a mere coincidence, rather than an inkling of some theory? We answer the question in the most naive form.","lang":"eng"}],"scopus_import":"1","citation":{"mla":"Amir, Ariel, et al. “Surprises in Numerical Expressions of Physical Constants.” <i>American Mathematical Monthly</i>, vol. 123, no. 6, Mathematical Association of America, 2016, pp. 609–12, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.4169/amer.math.monthly.123.6.609\">10.4169/amer.math.monthly.123.6.609</a>.","ista":"Amir A, Lemeshko M, Tokieda T. 2016. Surprises in numerical expressions of physical constants. American Mathematical Monthly. 123(6), 609–612.","short":"A. Amir, M. Lemeshko, T. Tokieda, American Mathematical Monthly 123 (2016) 609–612.","apa":"Amir, A., Lemeshko, M., &#38; Tokieda, T. (2016). Surprises in numerical expressions of physical constants. <i>American Mathematical Monthly</i>. Mathematical Association of America. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.4169/amer.math.monthly.123.6.609\">https://doi.org/10.4169/amer.math.monthly.123.6.609</a>","chicago":"Amir, Ariel, Mikhail Lemeshko, and Tadashi Tokieda. “Surprises in Numerical Expressions of Physical Constants.” <i>American Mathematical Monthly</i>. Mathematical Association of America, 2016. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.4169/amer.math.monthly.123.6.609\">https://doi.org/10.4169/amer.math.monthly.123.6.609</a>.","ama":"Amir A, Lemeshko M, Tokieda T. Surprises in numerical expressions of physical constants. <i>American Mathematical Monthly</i>. 2016;123(6):609-612. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.4169/amer.math.monthly.123.6.609\">10.4169/amer.math.monthly.123.6.609</a>","ieee":"A. Amir, M. Lemeshko, and T. Tokieda, “Surprises in numerical expressions of physical constants,” <i>American Mathematical Monthly</i>, vol. 123, no. 6. Mathematical Association of America, pp. 609–612, 2016."},"main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1","url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/1603.00299"}],"publisher":"Mathematical Association of America"}]