The fine structure constant α is one of the most precisely measured numbers in physics, yet in standard theory it is inserted as a free parameter. In the Chronoflux framework I treat time as a conserved continuum described by a flow field H µ satisfying a continuity equation. Electromagnetism appears as a linear response of this continuum, and charge quantization follows from the requirement that the conserved flow admits stable circulation. I show that the fine structure constant is fixed by the ratio of the vacuum impedance of the continuum and the circulation quantum of the flow. Once the background state satisfies the continuity equation, the value of α is determined with no free parameters.
Roy Herbert (Tue,) studied this question.