Handbook.of.Chemistry.and.Physics.84th.Edition.-.2004

FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL CONSTANTS
Peter J. Mohr and Barry N. Taylor
These tables give the 1998 self-consistent set of values of the basic constants and conversion factors of
physics and chemistry recommended by the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) for
international use. The 1998 set replaces the previous set of constants recommended by CODATA in 1986; assigned
uncertainties have been reduced by a factor of 1/5 to 1/12 (and sometimes even greater) relative to the 1986
uncertainties. The recommended set is based on a least-squares adjustment involving all of the relevant experimental
and theoretical data available through December 31, 1998. Full details of the input data and the adjustment
procedure are given in Reference 1.
The 1998 adjustment was carried out by P. J. Mohr and B. N. Taylor of the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) under the auspices of the CODATA Task Group on Fundamental Constants. The Task
Group was established in 1969 with the aim of periodically providing the scientific and technological communities
with a self-consistent set of internationally recommended values of the fundamental physical constants based on all
applicable information available at a given point in time. The first set was published in 1973 and was followed by a
revised set first published in 1986; the current 1998 set first appeared in 1999. In the future, the CODATA Task
Group plans to take advantage of the high level of automation developed for the current set in order to issue a new
set of recommended values at least every four years.
At the time of completion of the 1998 adjustment, the membership of the Task Group was as follows:
F. Cabiati, Istituto Elettrotecnico Nazionale “Galileo Ferraris,” Italy
E. R. Cohen, Science Center, Rockwell International (retired), United States of America
T. Endo, Electrotechnical Laboratory, Japan
R. Liu, National Institute of Metrology, China (People’s Republic of)
B. A. Mamyrin, A. F. Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute, Russian Federation
P. J. Mohr, National Institute of Standards and Technology, United States of America
F. Nez, Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel, France
B. W. Petley, National Physical Laboratory, United Kingdom
T. J. Quinn, Bureau International des Poids et Mesures
B. N. Taylor, National Institute of Standards and Technology, United States of America
V. S. Tuninsky, D. I. Mendeleyev All-Russian Research Institute for Metrology, Russian Federation
W. Wöger, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Germany
B. M. Wood, National Research Council, Canada
REFERENCES
1. Mohr, Peter J., and Taylor, Barry N., J. Phys Chem. Ref. Data 28, 1713, 1999; Rev. Mod. Phys. 72, 351,
2000. The 1998 set of recommended values is also available at the Web site of the Fundamental Constants Data
Center of the NIST Physics Laboratory:
http://physics.nist.gov/constants.