Planck units

In particle physics and physical cosmology, Planck units are a set of units of measurement
defined exclusively in terms of four universal physical constants, in such a manner that these
physical constants take on the numerical value of 1 when expressed in terms of these units.
Originally proposed in 1899 by German physicist Max Planck, these units are a system of natural
units because their definition is based on properties of nature, more specifically the properties of
free space, rather than a choice of prototype object. They are relevant in research on unified
theories such as quantum gravity.

The term Planck scale refers to quantities of space, time, energy and other units that are similar
in magnitude to corresponding Planck units. This region may be characterized by energies of
around 1019 GeV, time intervals of around 10−43 s and lengths of around 10−35 m (approximately
the energy-equivalent of the Planck mass, the Planck time and the Planck length, respectively).
At the Planck scale, the predictions of the Standard Model, quantum field theory and general
relativity are not expected to apply, and quantum effects of gravity are expected to dominate.
The best-known example is represented by the conditions in the first 10−43 seconds of our
universe after the Big Bang, approximately 13.8 billion years ago.

The four universal constants that, by definition, have a numeric value 1 when expressed in these
units are:

the speed of light in a vacuum, c,

the gravitational constant, G,

the reduced Planck constant, ħ,

 the Boltzmann constant, kB.

Planck units do not incorporate an electromagnetic dimension. Some authors choose to extend
the system to electromagnetism by, for example, adding either the electric constant ε0 or 4πε0
to this list. Similarly, authors choose to use variants of the system that give other numeric values
to one or more of the four constants above.

Introduction

Any system of measurement may be assigned a mutually independent set of base quantities
and associated base units, from which all other quantities and units may be derived. In the
International System of Units, for example, the SI base quantities include length with the
associated unit of the metre. In the system of Planck units, a similar set of base quantities and
associated units may be selected, in terms of which other quantities and coherent units may be
expressed.[1][2]: 1215  The Planck unit of length has become known as the Planck length, and the
Planck unit of time is known as the Planck time, but this nomenclature has not been established
as extending to all quantities.

All Planck units are derived from the dimensional universal physical constants that define the
system, and in a convention in which these units are omitted (i.e. treated as having the
dimensionless value 1), these constants are then eliminated from equations of physics in which
they appear. For example, Newton's law of universal gravitation,

can be expressed as:

Both equations are dimensionally consistent and equally valid in any system of quantities, but
the second equation, with G absent, is relating only dimensionless quantities since any ratio of
two like-dimensioned quantities is a dimensionless quantity. If, by a shorthand convention, it is
understood that each physical quantity is the corresponding ratio with a coherent Planck unit (or
"expressed in Planck units"), the ratios above may be expressed simply with the symbols of
physical quantity, without being scaled explicitly by their corresponding unit:

This last equation (without G) is valid with F ′, m1′, m2′, and r ′ being the dimensionless ratio
quantities corresponding to the standard quantities, written e.g. F ′ ≘ F or F ′ = F/FP, but not as a
direct equality of quantities. This may seem to be "setting the constants c, G, etc., to 1" if the
correspondence of the quantities is thought of as equality. For this reason, Planck or other
natural units should be employed with care. Referring to "G = c = 1", Paul S. Wesson wrote that,
"Mathematically it is an acceptable trick which saves labour. Physically it represents a loss of
information and can lead to confusion."[3]

History and definition

The concept of natural units was introduced in 1874, when George Johnstone Stoney, noting
that electric charge is quantized, derived units of length, time, and mass, now named Stoney
units in his honor, by normalizing G, c, and the electron charge, e, to 1.[4] In 1899, one year before
the advent of quantum theory, Max Planck introduced what became later known as the Planck
constant.[5][6] At the end of the paper, he proposed the base units later named in his honor. The
Planck units are based on the quantum of action, now usually known as the Planck constant,
which appeared in the Wien approximation for blackbody radiation. Planck underlined the
universality of the new unit system, writing:

... die Möglichkeit gegeben ist, Einheiten für Länge, Masse, Zeit und
Temperatur aufzustellen, welche, unabhängig von speciellen Körpern
oder Substanzen, ihre Bedeutung für alle Zeiten und für alle, auch
außerirdische und außermenschliche Culturen notwendig behalten und
welche daher als »natürliche Maßeinheiten« bezeichnet werden können.

... it is possible to set up units for length, mass, time and temperature,
which are independent of special bodies or substances, necessarily
retaining their meaning for all times and for all civilizations, including
extraterrestrial and non-human ones, which can be called "natural
units of measure".
Planck considered only the units based on the universal constants , , , and to arrive at
natural units for length, time, mass, and temperature.[6] His definitions differ from the modern
ones by a factor of , because the modern definitions use rather than .[5][6]

Table 1: Modern values for Planck's original choice of quantities

Name Dimension Expression Value (SI units)

Planck length length (L) 1.616 255(18) × 10−35 m[7]

Planck mass mass (M) 2.176 434(24) × 10−8 kg[8]

Planck time time (T) 5.391 247(60) × 10−44 s[9]

Planck temperature temperature (Θ) 1.416 784(16) × 1032 K[10]

Unlike the case with the International System of Units, there is no official entity that establishes
a definition of a Planck unit system. Some authors define the base Planck units to be those of
mass, length and time, regarding an additional unit for temperature to be redundant.[note 1] Other
tabulations add, in addition to a unit for temperature, a unit for electric charge,[12][13] sometimes
also replacing mass with energy when doing so.[14] Depending on the author's choice, this
charge unit is given by

or

The Planck charge, as well as other electromagnetic units that can be defined like resistance
and magnetic flux, are more difficult to interpret than Planck's original units and are used less
frequently.[15]

In SI units, the values of c, h, e and kB are exact and the values of ε0 and G in SI units respectively
have relative uncertainties of 1.5 × 10−10[16] and 2.2 × 10−5.[17] Hence, the uncertainties in the SI
values of the Planck units derive almost entirely from uncertainty in the SI value of G.

Derived units
In any system of measurement, units for many physical quantities can be derived from base
units. Table 2 offers a sample of derived Planck units, some of which in fact are seldom used.
As with the base units, their use is mostly confined to theoretical physics because most of them
are too large or too small for empirical or practical use and there are large uncertainties in their
values.

Table 2: Coherent derived units of Planck units

Derived unit of Expression Approximate SI equivalent

area (L2) 2.6121 × 10−70 m2

volume (L3) 4.2217 × 10−105 m3

momentum (LMT−1) 6.5249 kg⋅m/s

energy (L2MT−2) 1.9561 × 109 J

force (LMT−2) 1.2103 × 1044 N

density (L−3M) 5.1550 × 1096 kg/m3

acceleration (LT−2) 5.5608 × 1051 m/s2

frequency (T−1) 1.8549 × 1043 Hz

Some Planck units, such as of time and length, are many orders of magnitude too large or too
small to be of practical use, so that Planck units as a system are typically only relevant to
theoretical physics. In some cases, a Planck unit may suggest a limit to a range of a physical
quantity where present-day theories of physics apply.[18] For example, our understanding of the
Big Bang does not extend to the Planck epoch, i.e., when the universe was less than one Planck
time old. Describing the universe during the Planck epoch requires a theory of quantum gravity
that would incorporate quantum effects into general relativity. Such a theory does not yet exist.

Several quantities are not "extreme" in magnitude, such as the Planck mass, which is about 22
micrograms: very large in comparison with subatomic particles, and within the mass range of
living organisms.[19]: 872  Similarly, the related units of energy and of momentum are in the range
of some everyday phenomena.

Significance

Planck units have little anthropocentric arbitrariness, but do still involve some arbitrary choices
in terms of the defining constants. Unlike the metre and second, which exist as base units in the
SI system for historical reasons, the Planck length and Planck time are conceptually linked at a
fundamental physical level. Consequently, natural units help physicists to reframe questions.
Frank Wilczek puts it succinctly:

We see that the question [posed] is not, "Why is gravity so feeble?" but
rather, "Why is the proton's mass so small?" For in natural (Planck)
units, the strength of gravity simply is what it is, a primary quantity,
while the proton's mass is the tiny number [1/(13 quintillion)].[20]

While it is true that the electrostatic repulsive force between two protons (alone in free space)
greatly exceeds the gravitational attractive force between the same two protons, this is not
about the relative strengths of the two fundamental forces. From the point of view of Planck
units, this is comparing apples with oranges, because mass and electric charge are
incommensurable quantities. Rather, the disparity of magnitude of force is a manifestation of
the fact that the charge on the protons is approximately the unit charge but the mass of the
protons is far less than the unit mass.

Planck scale

In particle physics and physical cosmology, the Planck scale is an energy scale around
1.22 × 1019 GeV (the Planck energy, corresponding to the energy equivalent of the Planck mass,
2.176 45 × 10−8 kg) at which quantum effects of gravity become strong. At this scale, present
descriptions and theories of sub-atomic particle interactions in terms of quantum field theory
break down and become inadequate, due to the impact of the apparent non-renormalizability of
gravity within current theories.

Relationship to gravity

At the Planck length scale, the strength of gravity is expected to become comparable with the
other forces, and it is theorized that all the fundamental forces are unified at that scale, but the
exact mechanism of this unification remains unknown. The Planck scale is therefore the point
where the effects of quantum gravity can no longer be ignored in other fundamental interactions,
where current calculations and approaches begin to break down, and a means to take account
of its impact is necessary.[21] On these grounds, it has been speculated that it may be an
approximate lower limit at which a black hole could be formed by collapse.[22]

While physicists have a fairly good understanding of the other fundamental interactions of
forces on the quantum level, gravity is problematic, and cannot be integrated with quantum
mechanics at very high energies using the usual framework of quantum field theory. At lesser
energy levels it is usually ignored, while for energies approaching or exceeding the Planck scale,
a new theory of quantum gravity is necessary. Approaches to this problem include string theory
and M-theory, loop quantum gravity, noncommutative geometry, and causal set theory.

In cosmology

In Big Bang cosmology, the Planck epoch or Planck era is the earliest stage of the Big Bang,
before the time passed was equal to the Planck time, tP, or approximately 10−43 seconds.[23]
There is no currently available physical theory to describe such short times, and it is not clear in
what sense the concept of time is meaningful for values smaller than the Planck time. It is
generally assumed that quantum effects of gravity dominate physical interactions at this time
scale. At this scale, the unified force of the Standard Model is assumed to be unified with
gravitation. Immeasurably hot and dense, the state of the Planck epoch was succeeded by the
grand unification epoch, where gravitation is separated from the unified force of the Standard
Model, in turn followed by the inflationary epoch, which ended after about 10−32 seconds (or
about 1011 tP).[24]

Table 3 lists properties of the observable universe today expressed in Planck units.[25][26]
Table 3: Today's universe in Planck units
Property of
Approximate
present-day observable number
Equivalents
universe of Planck units

Age 8.08 × 1060 tP 4.35 × 1017 s or 1.38 × 1010 years

Diameter 5.4 × 1061 lP 8.7 × 1026 m or 9.2 × 1010 light-years

3 × 1052 kg or 1.5 × 1022 solar masses (only

counting stars)

Mass approx. 1060 mP

1080 protons (sometimes known as the
Eddington number)

1.8 × 10−123
Density 9.9 × 10−27 kg⋅m−3
mP⋅lP−3

2.725 K

−32
Temperature 1.9 × 10 TP temperature of the cosmic microwave
background radiation

Cosmological constant 2.9 × 10−122 l −2

P 1.1 × 10−52 m−2

Hubble constant 1.18 × 10−61 t −1

P 2.2 × 10−18 s−1 or 67.8 (km/s)/Mpc

After the measurement of the cosmological constant (Λ) in 1998, estimated at 10−122 in Planck
units, it was noted that this is suggestively close to the reciprocal of the age of the universe (T)
squared. Barrow and Shaw proposed a modified theory in which Λ is a field evolving in such a
way that its value remains Λ ~ T−2 throughout the history of the universe.[27]

Analysis of the units

Planck length

The Planck length, denoted ℓP, is a unit of length defined as:

It is equal to 1.616 255(18) × 10−35 m,[7] where the two digits enclosed by parentheses are the
estimated standard error associated with the reported numerical value, or about 10−20 times the
diameter of a proton.[28] It can be motivated in various ways, such as considering a particle
whose reduced Compton wavelength is comparable to its Schwarzschild radius,[28][29][30] though
whether those concepts are in fact simultaneously applicable is open to debate.[31] (The same
heuristic argument simultaneously motivates the Planck mass.[29])

The Planck length is a distance scale of interest in speculations about quantum gravity. The
Bekenstein–Hawking entropy of a black hole is one-fourth the area of its event horizon in units
of Planck length squared.[11]: 370  Since the 1950s, it has been conjectured that quantum
fluctuations of the spacetime metric might make the familiar notion of distance inapplicable
below the Planck length.[32][33][34] This is sometimes expressed by saying that "spacetime
becomes a foam at the Planck scale".[35] It is possible that the Planck length is the shortest
physically measurable distance, since any attempt to investigate the possible existence of
shorter distances, by performing higher-energy collisions, would result in black hole production.
Higher-energy collisions, rather than splitting matter into finer pieces, would simply produce
bigger black holes.[36]

The strings of string theory are modeled to be on the order of the Planck length.[37][38] In theories
with large extra dimensions, the Planck length calculated from the observed value of can be
smaller than the true, fundamental Planck length.[11]: 61 [39]

Planck time

The Planck time tP is the time required for light to travel a distance of 1 Planck length in a
vacuum, which is a time interval of approximately 5.39 × 10−44 s. No current physical theory can
describe timescales shorter than the Planck time, such as the earliest events after the Big
Bang,[23] and it is conjectured that the structure of time breaks down on intervals comparable to
the Planck time.[40] While there is currently no known way to measure time intervals on the scale
of the Planck time, researchers in 2020 found that the accuracy of an atomic clock is
constrained by quantum effects on the order of the Planck time, and for the most precise atomic
clocks thus far they calculated that such effects have been ruled out to around 10−33 s, or 10
orders of magnitude above the Planck scale.[41][42][40]

Planck energy

Most Planck units are extremely small, as in the case of Planck length or Planck time, or
extremely large, as in the case of Planck temperature or Planck acceleration. For comparison,
the Planck energy EP is approximately equal to the energy stored in an automobile gas tank
(57.2 L of gasoline at 34.2 MJ/L of chemical energy). The ultra-high-energy cosmic ray observed
in 1991 had a measured energy of about 50 J, equivalent to about 2.5 × 10−8 EP.[43][44]
Proposals for theories of doubly special relativity posit that, in addition to the speed of light, an
energy scale is also invariant for all inertial observers. Typically, this energy scale is chosen to be
the Planck energy.[45][46]

Planck unit of force

The Planck unit of force may be thought of as the derived unit of force in the Planck system if
the Planck units of time, length, and mass are considered to be base units.

It is the gravitational attractive force of two bodies of 1 Planck mass each that are held 1 Planck
length apart. One convention for the Planck charge is to choose it so that the electrostatic
repulsion of two objects with Planck charge and mass that are held 1 Planck length apart
exactly balances the Newtonian attraction between them.[47]

Various authors have argued that the Planck force is on the order of the maximum force that can
be observed in nature.[48][49] However, the validity of these conjectures has been disputed.[50][51]

Planck temperature

The Planck temperature TP is 1.416 784(16) × 1032 K.[10] At this temperature, the wavelength of
light emitted by thermal radiation reaches the Planck length. There are no known physical
models able to describe temperatures greater than TP; a quantum theory of gravity would be
required to model the extreme energies attained.[52] Hypothetically, a system in thermal
equilibrium at the Planck temperature might contain Planck-scale black holes, constantly being
formed from thermal radiation and decaying via Hawking evaporation; adding energy to such a
system might decrease its temperature by creating larger black holes, whose Hawking
temperature is lower.[53]

List of physical equations

Physical quantities that have different dimensions (such as time and length) cannot be equated
even if they are numerically equal (1 second is not the same as 1 metre). In theoretical physics,
however, this scruple can be set aside, by a process called nondimensionalization. Table 4
shows how the use of Planck units simplifies many fundamental equations of physics, because
this gives each of the five fundamental constants, and products of them, a simple numeric value
of 1. In the SI form, the units should be accounted for. In the nondimensionalized form, the units,
which are now Planck units, need not be written if their use is understood.
Table 4: How Planck units simplify common equations of physics
SI form Planck units form

Newton's law of universal gravitation

Einstein field equations in general relativity

Mass–energy equivalence in special relativity

Energy–momentum relation

Thermal energy per particle per degree of

freedom

Boltzmann's entropy formula

Planck–Einstein relation for energy and angular

frequency

Planck's law (surface intensity per unit solid

angle per unit angular frequency) for black body
at temperature T.

Stefan–Boltzmann constant σ defined

Bekenstein–Hawking black hole

entropy[19]: 714–17 

Schrödinger's equation

Hamiltonian form of Schrödinger's equation

Covariant form of the Dirac equation

Unruh temperature

Coulomb's law

Maxwell's equations


or
Ideal gas law

Alternative choices of normalization

As already stated above, Planck units are derived by "normalizing" the numerical values of
certain fundamental constants to 1. These normalizations are neither the only ones possible nor
necessarily the best. Moreover, the choice of what factors to normalize, among the factors
appearing in the fundamental equations of physics, is not evident, and the values of the Planck
units are sensitive to this choice.

The factor 4π is ubiquitous in theoretical physics because in three-dimensional space, the

surface area of a sphere of radius r is 4πr 2. This, along with the concept of flux, are the basis for
the inverse-square law, Gauss's law, and the divergence operator applied to flux density. For
example, gravitational and electrostatic fields produced by point objects have spherical
symmetry, and so the electric flux through a sphere of radius r around a point charge will be
distributed uniformly over that sphere. From this, it follows that a factor of 4πr 2 will appear in
the denominator of Coulomb's law in rationalized form.[25]: 214–15  (Both the numerical factor and
the power of the dependence on r would change if space were higher-dimensional; the correct
expressions can be deduced from the geometry of higher-dimensional spheres.[11]: 51 ) LIkewise
for Newton's law of universal gravitation: a factor of 4π naturally appears in Poisson's equation
when relating the gravitational potential to the distribution of matter.[11]: 56 

Hence a substantial body of physical theory developed since Planck's 1899 paper suggests
1 1
normalizing not G but 4πG (or 8πG) to 1. Doing so would introduce a factor of 4π (or 8π ) into the
nondimensionalized form of the law of universal gravitation, consistent with the modern
rationalized formulation of Coulomb's law in terms of the vacuum permittivity. In fact, alternative
1
normalizations frequently preserve the factor of 4π in the nondimensionalized form of
Coulomb's law as well, so that the nondimensionalized Maxwell's equations for
electromagnetism and gravitoelectromagnetism both take the same form as those for
electromagnetism in SI, which do not have any factors of 4π. When this is applied to
electromagnetic constants, ε0, this unit system is called "rationalized ". When applied additionally
to gravitation and Planck units, these are called rationalized Planck units[54] and are seen in
high-energy physics.[55]

The rationalized Planck units are defined so that .

There are several possible alternative normalizations.

Gravitational constant

In 1899, Newton's law of universal gravitation was still seen as exact, rather than as a convenient
approximation holding for "small" velocities and masses (the approximate nature of Newton's
law was shown following the development of general relativity in 1915). Hence Planck
normalized to 1 the gravitational constant G in Newton's law. In theories emerging after 1899, G
nearly always appears in formulae multiplied by 4π or a small integer multiple thereof. Hence, a
choice to be made when designing a system of natural units is which, if any, instances of 4π
appearing in the equations of physics are to be eliminated via the normalization.

1
Normalizing 4πG to 1 (and therefore setting G = 4π ):
Gauss's law for gravity becomes Φg = −M (rather than Φg = −4πM in Planck units).

Eliminates 4πG from the Poisson equation.

Eliminates 4πG in the gravitoelectromagnetic (GEM) equations, which hold in weak

gravitational fields or locally flat spacetime. These equations have the same form as
Maxwell's equations (and the Lorentz force equation) of electromagnetism, with mass
1
density replacing charge density, and with 4πG replacing ε0.

Normalizes the characteristic impedance Zg of gravitational radiation in free space to 1

(normally expressed as 4πG
c
).[note 2]

Eliminates 4πG from the Bekenstein–Hawking formula (for the entropy of a black hole in
terms of its mass mBH and the area of its event horizon ABH) which is simplified to
SBH = πABH = (mBH)2.
1
Setting 8πG = 1 (and therefore setting G = 8π ). This would eliminate 8πG from the Einstein
field equations, Einstein–Hilbert action, and the Friedmann equations, for gravitation. Planck
units modified so that 8πG = 1 are known as reduced Planck units, because the Planck mass is
 divided by √8π. Also, the Bekenstein–Hawking formula for the entropy of a black hole
simplifies to SBH = (mBH)2/2 = 2πABH.

See also

cGh physics

Dimensional analysis

Doubly special relativity

Trans-Planckian problem

Zero-point energy

Notes

1. For example, both Frank Wilczek and Barton Zwiebach do so,[1][11]: 54  as does the textbook
Gravitation.[2]: 1215 

2. General relativity predicts that gravitational radiation propagates at the same speed as electromagnetic
radiation.[56]: 60 [57]: 158 

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External links

Value of the fundamental constants (http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Constants/index.html) ,

including the Planck units, as reported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST).

The Planck scale: relativity meets quantum mechanics meets gravity (http://www.phys.unsw.e
du.au/einsteinlight/jw/module6_Planck.htm) from 'Einstein Light' at UNSW

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