Archive for The Ration of Proton and Electron Masses

The Shortest Physics Paper Ever?

Posted in The Universe and Stuff with tags , , on October 1, 2024 by telescoper

I thought I’d share this for the benefit of those who haven’t seen it already:

Published in the Physical Review in 1951 this paper is just 27 words long, contains one number (+ error bounds), one equation, and one reference. Is this the shortest physics paper ever?

P.S. Current measurements of the electron and proton masses give a ratio inconsistent with the number derived from the measurements in [1].