137 (number)

137 (one hundred [and] thirty-seven) is the natural number following 136 and preceding 138.

Mathematics

 * the 33rd prime number; the next is 139, with which it comprises a twin prime, and thus 137 is a Chen prime.
 * an Eisenstein prime with no imaginary part and a real part of the form $$3n - 1$$.
 * the fourth Stern prime.
 * a Pythagorean prime: a prime number of the form $$4n+1$$, where $$n=34$$ ($$137=4\times 34+1$$) or the sum of two squares $$11^{2}+4^{2} = (121+16)$$.
 * a combination of three terms $$4^{3}+3^{4}-2^{3} = (64+81-8)$$, cube of 4 + Triangular number T4+T2 on each cube face (along 3 axes) - peaks (single 6th peak as free link)
 * a strong prime in the sense that it is more than the arithmetic mean of its two neighboring primes.
 * a strictly non-palindromic number and a primeval number.
 * a factor of 10001 (the other being 73) and the repdigit 11111111 (= 10001 × 1111).
 * using two radii to divide a circle according to the golden ratio yields sectors of approximately 137.51° (the golden angle) and 222° in degree system so 137 is the largest integer before it.
 * In decimal notation, 1/137 = 0.007299270072992700..., so its period value happens to be palindromic and has a period length of only 8. However, this is only special to decimal, as in pentadecimal it (1/92) has a period length of twenty-four (24) and the period value is not at all palindromic.

Physics

 * Since the early 1900s, physicists have postulated that the number could lie at the heart of a grand unified theory, relating theories of electromagnetism, quantum mechanics and, especially, gravity.
 * 1/137 was once thought to be the exact value of the fine-structure constant. The fine-structure constant, a dimensionless physical constant, is approximately 1/137, and the astronomer Arthur Eddington conjectured in 1929 that its reciprocal was in fact precisely the integer 137, which he claimed could be "obtained by pure deduction". This conjecture was not widely adopted, and by the 1940s, the experimental values for the constant were clearly inconsistent with the conjecture, being roughly 1/137.036. In 2021, researchers at the Kastler Brossel Laboratory in Paris reported the most precise measurement yet, determining the value to be 137.035999206 with an accuracy of 81 parts per trillion.
 * Physicist Leon M. Lederman numbered his home near Fermilab 137 based on the significance of the number to those in his profession. Lederman expounded on the significance of the number in his 1993 book The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?, noting that not only was it the inverse of the fine-structure constant, but was also related to the probability that an electron will emit or absorb a photon—i.e., Feynman's conjecture. He added that it also "contains the crux of electromagnetism (the electron), relativity (the velocity of light), and quantum theory (the Planck constant). It would be less unsettling if the relationship between all these important concepts turned out to be one or three or maybe a multiple of pi. But 137?" The number 137, according to Lederman, "shows up naked all over the place", meaning that scientists on any planet in the universe using whatever units they have for charge or speed, and whatever their version of the Planck constant may be, will all come up with 137, because it is a pure number. Lederman recalled that Richard Feynman had even suggested that all physicists put a sign in their offices with the number 137 to remind them of just how much they do not know.

Psychology and mysticism

 * 137 has been the subject of psychological speculation by Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung concerning his theory of synchronicity. Jung and physicist Wolfgang Pauli, according to the book Jung, Pauli, and the Pursuit of a Scientific Obsession by Arthur I. Miller, Emeritus Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at University College London, Jung and Pauli struggled in their search for a primal number that everything in the world hinges on, as well as a desire to quantify the unconscious.

Military

 * Boeing C-137 Stratoliner was a VIP transport aircraft from the Boeing 707 jet airliner used by the United States Air Force
 * RAF – No. 137 Squadron
 * Strike Fighter Squadron 137 (VFA-137) is a United States Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter squadron stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California
 * USNS Mission Santa Ana (T-AO-137) Mission Buenaventura-class fleet oiler built during World War II
 * USS Adopt (AM-137) was a United States Navy minesweeper during World War II
 * USS Ascella (AK-137) was a United States Navy Crater-class cargo ship commissioned during World War II
 * USS Bowie (APA-137) was a United States Navy Haskell-class attack transport during World War II
 * USS General S. D. Sturgis (AP-137) was the United States Navy General G. O. Squier-class transport ship during World War II
 * USS Herbert C. Jones (DE-137) was a United States Navy Edsall-class destroyer escort during World War II
 * USS Kilty (DD-137) was a United States Navy Wickes-class destroyer during World War II
 * 137e régiment d'infanterie (fr) is a French Infantry Regiment created under 1st Empire (Napoleon Bonaparte)
 * 137th Infantry Division in Germany was a German major fighting formation between 1940 and 1943 Wehrmacht

Music

 * Cesium_137 is an American synthpop musical group which takes its name from a radioactive isotope
 * 137 is a 2001 album by The Pineapple Thief
 * Rescate 137 is a 2000 album by experimental electronic musician Christian Vogel
 * The Fugue for String Quintet in D major, Op. 137 was composed by Beethoven in 1817
 * The Gibson ES-137 is a semi-hollow body guitar by Gibson
 * 137 is a 2009 album by RickWhiteAlbum
 * "137 (Rinse)" is a song by British producer Squarepusher on Music Is Rotted One Note
 * "137" is a song by Brand New on the 2017 album Science Fiction
 * "Room 137" is a song by Dream Theater on their 2019 album Distance over Time
 * "137" aka "One Hundred and Thirty-Seven" is a composition by John L. Walters written for Landscape (band)

Religion

 * The Bible says that Ishmael, Levi and Amram all lived to be 137 years old. The three appearances make it the most common lifespan of individuals in the Bible.
 * According to the verse in Genesis (17:17) there was a ten-year age gap between Abraham and Sarah. Sarah died at the age of 127 (Genesis 23:1), thus Abraham was 137 years old at her death. According to Rashi's commentary on Genesis 23:2, Sarah died when she heard that Isaac had almost been sacrificed, thus Abraham was 137 years old at the Binding of Isaac.

Transportation

 * London Buses route 137 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London
 * Boeing 707-347C CC-137 transport aircraft served the Canadian Forces from 1970 to 1997
 * Philippine Airlines Flight 137 from Manila overshot the runway while landing at Bacolod City Domestic Airport on March 22, 1998
 * 137 Avenue is a primary road in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
 * 137th Street–City College is a station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway in New York City

Other uses

 * 137: Jung, Pauli, and the Pursuit of a Scientific Obsession by Arthur I. Miller, ISBN 978-0-393-33864-5, describes the friendship of Carl Jung and Wolfgang Pauli and their search for the meaning of 137 in science, medieval alchemy, dream interpretation, and the I Ching.
 * The year AD 137 or 137 BC
 * 137 AH is a year in the Islamic calendar that corresponds to 754 – 755 CE
 * 137 Meliboea is a large and dark main belt asteroid discovered in 1874
 * The atomic number of an element not yet observed called untriseptium, the highest allowed element on the periodic table allowed for a point nucleus by the Bohr model and the Dirac equation.
 * California Penal Code for "Offer bribe to influence testimony"
 * The Samson 137 Indian reserve in Alberta, Canada
 * Sonnet 137 by William Shakespeare
 * Psalm 137
 * Caesium-137 is a radioactive isotope of caesium formed by nuclear fission
 * The number of atoms in a chlorophyll molecule, for which the chemical formula is C55H72MgN4O5.
 * Rick Sanchez, a fictional character from the Adult Swim animated television series Rick and Morty, is from a version of the universe numbered C-137, and is sometimes referred to as "C-137" in contexts where "Rick" would be ambiguous (there being multiple universes).
 * There are 137 islands in the Hawaiian island chain, of which eight are considered major islands.