alpha :a constant that is not a constant?
Astrophysics
2009-11-07 v1 High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Nuclear Theory
Abstract
We review the observational information on the constancy of the fine structure constant alpha. We find that small improvements on the measurement of ^{187}Re lifetime can provide significant progress in exploring the range of variability suggested by QSO data. We also discuss the effects of a time varying alpha on stellar structure and evolution. We find that radioactive dating of ancient stars can offer a new observational window.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0207390,
title = {alpha :a constant that is not a constant?},
author = {G. Fiorentini and B. Ricci},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0207390},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
9 pages with 3 ps figures included, to appear on the Proc. of ESO-CERN-ESA Symposium on Astronomy, Cosmology and Fundamental Physics, Garching bei Munchen, Germany March 4-7, 2002