Speed of sound from fundamental physical constants

K Trachenko; B Monserrat; C J Pickard; V V Brazhkin

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abc8662

Speed of sound from fundamental physical constants

Sci Adv. 2020 Oct 9;6(41):eabc8662. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abc8662. Print 2020 Oct.

Authors

K Trachenko¹, B Monserrat^{2

3}, C J Pickard^{2

4}, V V Brazhkin⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK. k.trachenko@qmul.ac.uk.
² Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, 27 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge CB3 0FS, UK.
³ Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
⁴ Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
⁵ Institute for High Pressure Physics, RAS, 108840 Troitsk, Moscow, Russia. k.trachenko@qmul.ac.uk.

Abstract

Two dimensionless fundamental physical constants, the fine structure constant α and the proton-to-electron mass ratio [Formula: see text], are attributed a particular importance from the point of view of nuclear synthesis, formation of heavy elements, planets, and life-supporting structures. Here, we show that a combination of these two constants results in a new dimensionless constant that provides the upper bound for the speed of sound in condensed phases, v_u We find that [Formula: see text], where c is the speed of light in vacuum. We support this result by a large set of experimental data and first-principles computations for atomic hydrogen. Our result expands the current understanding of how fundamental constants can impose new bounds on important physical properties.

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