{ "model": { "rank": 4831, "code": "thing-q173227", "model_id": "vr.tr.physical-constant", "name": "physical constant", "purpose": "Let an agent explain physical constants and their roles, relay values, uncertainties and the 2019 SI redefinition from metrology references, describe dimensionless and context-specific constants, and distinguish fundamental constants from material constants and mathematical constants.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Cross-cutting context", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "XCT", "domain": "XCT.QLT", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q173227/", "tier": 2, "score": 72, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "coupling constant", "constant of motion", "Oort constants", "General Chemistry/Constants", "ebullioscopic constant", "dimensionless physical constant", "astronomical constant", "integral of motion" ], "aliasCount": 8, "merged": 8, "knownIn": 72, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q173227", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q173227", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-13T04:55:41Z", "providers": [ "Claude" ], "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify", "pass": 2, "wave": 3, "engine": "claude" }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q173227", "registryId": "vr.tr.physical-constant", "name": "physical constant", "version": "0.2.0-wave.3", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "XCT.QLT" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q173227/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.physical-constant", "name": "physical constant", "purpose": "Let an agent explain physical constants and their roles, relay values, uncertainties and the 2019 SI redefinition from metrology references, describe dimensionless and context-specific constants, and distinguish fundamental constants from material constants and mathematical constants.", "definition": "A physical quantity whose value is believed to be universal and unchanging in time, such as the speed of light, the Planck constant, the elementary charge, the gravitational constant and the fine-structure constant, some dimensionless and some fixed by definition in the SI since 2019, together with derived and context-specific constants such as coupling constants, constants of motion in mechanics, the Oort constants in galactic astronomy and the ebullioscopic constant in chemistry; constants are determined by measurement and tabulated by CODATA.", "what_it_is_for": "Not applicable; quantities in physics.", "affordances": [ "explain the concept", "relay values and uncertainties", "describe kinds of constants", "distinguish related notions" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Universal", "Unchanging", "Measured or defined", "Some dimensionless" ], "appearance": "Not a visible object; numerical values.", "visual_identification": [ "Universal unchanging physical quantity", "Speed of light, Planck constant, fine-structure constant, coupling constants, Oort constants, ebullioscopic constant", "Mathematical constants such as pi are not physical; material constants depend on the substance" ], "physical_properties": [ { "quantity": "speed of light", "typical_range": "299792458", "unit": "m/s", "note": "exact by definition" }, { "quantity": "Planck constant", "typical_range": "6.62607015e-34", "unit": "J s", "note": "exact since 2019" }, { "quantity": "fine-structure constant", "typical_range": "about 1/137.036", "unit": "dimensionless", "note": "" }, { "quantity": "gravitational constant", "typical_range": "6.674e-11", "unit": "m^3/(kg s^2)", "note": "measured" } ], "families_and_kinds": [ "fundamental constants such as c, h, e, G and k", "dimensionless constants such as the fine-structure constant", "coupling constants of the fundamental interactions", "constants of motion as conserved quantities", "astronomical constants such as the Oort constants", "chemical constants such as the ebullioscopic constant" ], "related_models": [ { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "physical quantity", "why": "in registry terms" }, { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "constant", "why": "in registry terms" }, { "relation": "is tabulated by", "target": "CODATA", "why": "in recommended values" }, { "relation": "defines", "target": "International System of Units", "why": "since 2019" } ], "identifiers": [], "standards_and_regulation": [ "CODATA recommended values", "SI Brochure and the 2019 redefinition", "IUPAC and IAU constant tables" ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Using outdated values", "Confusing physical with mathematical or material constants", "Presenting speculative variation of constants as established" ], "in_scope": [], "out_of_scope": [], "characteristics": [] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "understand", "name": "Understand", "description": "What physical constants are.", "rationale": "Science.", "layers": [ { "id": "definition", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-finding", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "questions": [ { "text": "What is a physical constant, and how do fundamental, dimensionless and context-specific constants differ?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Is the question about a physical constant, a mathematical constant or a material property?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "list", "name": "List", "description": "Main constants.", "findings": [ { "id": "list-finding", "name": "List", "description": "List.", "questions": [ { "text": "What are the main constants, their symbols, values and units?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the specific constant?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "measure", "name": "Measure", "description": "Measurement and definition.", "rationale": "Science.", "layers": [ { "id": "determination", "name": "Determination", "description": "Determination.", "findings": [ { "id": "determination-finding", "name": "Determination", "description": "Determination.", "questions": [ { "text": "How are constants measured, and how does CODATA combine results and uncertainties?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which references are standard?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "si", "name": "SI", "description": "SI redefinition.", "findings": [ { "id": "si-finding", "name": "SI", "description": "SI.", "questions": [ { "text": "How did the 2019 redefinition fix h, e, k and the Avogadro constant, and what changed?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which sources are cited?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "apply", "name": "Apply", "description": "Constants in fields.", "rationale": "Application.", "layers": [ { "id": "physics", "name": "Physics", "description": "Physics and astronomy.", "findings": [ { "id": "physics-finding", "name": "Physics", "description": "Physics.", "questions": [ { "text": "How are coupling constants, constants of motion and the Oort constants used?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the specific constant?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "chemistry", "name": "Chemistry", "description": "Chemistry.", "findings": [ { "id": "chemistry-finding", "name": "Chemistry", "description": "Chemistry.", "questions": [ { "text": "What are the ebullioscopic and cryoscopic constants, and how are they used?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits ebullioscopic constant?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "context", "name": "Context", "description": "Questions and history.", "rationale": "Context.", "layers": [ { "id": "questions", "name": "Questions", "description": "Open questions.", "findings": [ { "id": "questions-finding", "name": "Questions", "description": "Questions.", "questions": [ { "text": "Why do constants have the values they do, and is there evidence they vary, with positions attributed?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits fine-tuned universe?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "history", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "findings": [ { "id": "history-finding", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "questions": [ { "text": "How were the major constants discovered and measured historically?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the history of physics?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should the fine-structure constant and coupling constant be separate primary entries?", "How should CODATA tables be linked?", "The registry entry has merged aliases naming context-specific constants and a textbook chapter; should they be split off?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 4, "layers": 8, "findings": 8, "questions": 16 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "unit, quantity or measure", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a physical constant, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Let an agent explain physical constants and their roles, relay values, uncertainties and the 2019 SI redefinition from metrology references, describe dimensionless and context-specific constants, and distinguish fundamental constants from material constants and mathematical constants.", "characteristics": { "substance": "abstract", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: coupling constant, constant of motion, Oort constants, General Chemistry/Constants, ebullioscopic constant, dimensionless physical constant, astronomical constant, integral of motion.", "8 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 72 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a physical constant, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "an abstraction with no physical instance", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Nothing to see: a unit is a convention. What is seen is an instrument reading in it." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "coupling constant", "constant of motion", "Oort constants", "General Chemistry/Constants", "ebullioscopic constant", "dimensionless physical constant", "astronomical constant", "integral of motion" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 72 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 8 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one physical constant from another, and a physical constant from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a physical constant, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a physical constant, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a physical constant is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a physical constant, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a physical constant, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a physical constant is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a physical constant sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a physical constant, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a physical constant, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a physical constant is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a physical constant from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a physical constant, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a physical constant, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a physical constant is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a physical constant passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a physical constant between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a physical constant, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a physical constant, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a physical constant is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a physical constant, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a physical constant is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a physical constant, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a physical constant, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a physical constant is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "definition-and-realisation", "name": "Definition, dimension and realisation", "description": "What physical constant is defined as and how it is realised in practice.", "rationale": "A unit is not the quantity it measures, and its definition has a history that older data still depends on.", "layers": [ { "id": "definition", "name": "Definition and dimension", "description": "The defining relation and the quantity it measures.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-record", "name": "Definition, body and date", "description": "What defines it now, and what defined it before.", "questions": [ { "id": "definition-record-q01", "text": "How is physical constant defined, by which body, and since when?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "definition-record-q02", "text": "What was the previous definition, and what data still depends on it?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "conversion", "name": "Conversion and compatibility", "description": "Relations to other units, exact or approximate.", "findings": [ { "id": "conversion-record", "name": "Conversions and their exactness", "description": "Factors, and whether each is exact by definition.", "questions": [ { "id": "conversion-record-q01", "text": "What conversions relate physical constant to other units, and which are exact by definition?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "conversion-record-q02", "text": "Where does rounding a conversion change a decision, and how should that be recorded?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a physical constant came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a physical constant and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a physical constant, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a physical constant, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a physical constant is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a physical constant is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a physical constant, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a physical constant, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a physical constant is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 4, "layers": 8, "findings": 10, "questions": 28 } } } }