Alpha over 2 pi ?

[ratatoskK]

I was walking through a cemetery today. On one of the gravestones, above the deceased’s name, was the equation alpha over 2 pi (in Greek symbols, obviously). What might this mean?

[ratatoskK]

I Googled the name of the deceased and found the answer! He was Julian Schwinger. Wikipedia says

Schwinger died of pancreatic cancer. He is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery; α 2 π {\displaystyle {\frac {\alpha }{2\pi }}} {\frac {\alpha }{2\pi }}, where α {\displaystyle \alpha } \alpha is the fine structure constant, is engraved above his name on his tombstone. These symbols refer to his calculation of the correction (“anomalous”) to the magnetic moment of the electron.

Pretty cool!

[Zakalwe]

When the OP answers his/her own question in GQ (in the first post no less), it’s like observing a black hole indirectly through Hawking radiation.

[Lance_Turbo]

@ratatoskK

On one of the gravestones, above the deceased’s name, was the equation alpha over 2 pi (in Greek symbols, obviously).

Nitpick: That’s an expression, not an equation. An equation requires an equals sign.

[Andy_L]

@ratatoskK

I Googled the name of the deceased and found the answer! He was Julian Schwinger. Wikipedia says
Pretty cool!

Cool. Schwinger doesn’t get the pop-culture appreciation that Feynman does, but was pretty darn impressive all the same.

[Chronos]

I was going to start my speculation with “Well, alpha could be the Fine Structure Constant, but very few people would have that on their tombstone…”. But, well, Schwinger is definitely one of those few.