Quantum Magic and the Strong Coupling Constant

Abstract

The three gauge couplings of the Standard Model (SM) can be parameterized as the fine structure constant $\alpha$, the weak mixing angle ${\sin }^2{\theta }_w$, and the strong coupling ${\alpha }_s$. They are fundamental constants whose values remain unexplained. Previously we showed that minimizing magic production in charged-lepton scattering reproduces ${\sin }^2{\theta }_w$ with great precision. Here we study magic production in the six flavor-diagonal color-singlet channels $q\bar{q}\to q\bar{q}$ at tree level, including photon, gluon, $W/Z$, and Higgs exchange. Varying only ${\alpha }_s$, with all other inputs fixed at each center-of-mass energy, we find that the finite-${\alpha }_s$ magic minimum in the top channel reproduces the $\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$ value of ${\alpha }_s$ to within $5\%$ from $1$TeV to $10^9$GeV. Higgs exchange involving the large top Yukawa coupling is essential for this agreement. All six channels produce near-minimal magic at the SM couplings, and reducing ${\alpha }_s$ toward $\alpha$ increases their magic production, potentially explaining why the strong interaction is ``strong.'' To understand why minimizing magic reproduces both ${\sin }^2{\theta }_w$ and ${\alpha }_s$, we conjecture that the parameters of fundamental interactions among color singlets reflect a principle of quantum computational efficiency, with the physical universe emerging from a quantum simulation subject to constrained resources.

Comments: 10 pages, 6 figures