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QED

Deriving the Fine Structure Constant

DOI
10.5281/zenodo.18624752
Read full paper on Zenodo →

An early paper in the Pentagon Physics programme establishing the first derivation of α from self-referential geometry. This version achieves ~0.5σ agreement with measurement — later improved to 0.05σ in Solving Alpha V4. The paper establishes the key insight that α⁻¹ = 360/φ² − 2/φ³ + corrections, and identifies the golden angle 360/φ² as the leading term. A precursor to the full derivation; superseded in precision by later versions but historically significant as the first demonstration that α can be derived.

\[ \alpha^{-1} \approx \frac{360}{\varphi^2} - \frac{2}{\varphi^3} \approx 137.036 \quad (\sim 0.5\sigma) \]
Key Result
First derivation of α from self-referential geometry
Precision
~0.5σ — precursor to V4 (0.05σ)