The New Planck Scale: Quantized Spin and Charge Coupled to Gravity This essay received an "honourable mention" in the 2003 Essay Competition of the Gravity Research Foundation

AbstractIn the standard approach to defining a Planck scale where gravity is broughtinto the quantum domain, the Schwarzschild gravitational radius is set equal tothe Compton wavelength. However, ignored thereby are the charge and spin,the fundamental quantized aspects of matter. The gravitational and null-surfaceradii of the Kerr-Newman metric are used to introduce spin and charge into anew extended Planck scale. The fine structure constant appears in the extendedPlanck mass and the recent discovery of the α variation with the evolution of theuniverse adds further significance. An extended Planck charge and Planck spinare derived. There is an intriguing suggestion of a connection with the α valuegoverning high-energy radiation in Z-boson production and decay. Traditionally, one derives the Planck mass by equating the gravitational radius2Gm/c 2 of a Schwarzschild mass with its Compton wavelength ¯h/mc. The body hasno spin and no charge yet spin and charge are the fundamental quantized aspects of1