English

Subaru Telescope limits on cosmological variations in the fine-structure constant

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics 2017-08-02 v1 Astrophysics of Galaxies General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Phenomenology High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

Previous, large samples of quasar absorption spectra have indicated some evidence for relative variations in the fine-structure constant (Δα/α\Delta\alpha/\alpha) across the sky. However, they were likely affected by long-range distortions of the wavelength calibration, so it is important to establish a statistical sample of more reliable results, from multiple telescopes. Here we triple the sample of Δα/α\Delta\alpha/\alpha measurements from the Subaru Telescope which have been `supercalibrated' to correct for long-range distortions. A blinded analysis of the metallic ions in 6 intervening absorption systems in two Subaru quasar spectra provides no evidence for α\alpha variation, with a weighted mean of Δα/α=3.0±2.8stat±2.0sys\Delta\alpha/\alpha=3.0\pm2.8_{\rm stat}\pm2.0_{\rm sys} parts per million (1σ\sigma statistical and systematic uncertainties). The main remaining systematic effects are uncertainties in the long-range distortion corrections, absorption profile models, and errors from redispersing multiple quasar exposures onto a common wavelength grid. The results also assume that terrestrial isotopic abundances prevail in the absorbers; assuming only the dominant terrestrial isotope is present significantly lowers Δα/α\Delta\alpha/\alpha, though it is still consistent with zero. Given the location of the two quasars on the sky, our results do not support the evidence for spatial α\alpha variation, especially when combined with the 21 other recent measurements which were corrected for, or resistant to, long-range distortions. Our spectra and absorption profile fits are publicly available.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1708.00014,
  title  = {Subaru Telescope limits on cosmological variations in the fine-structure constant},
  author = {Michael T. Murphy and Kathy L. Cooksey},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1708.00014},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

16 pages, 11 figures. Accepted by MNRAS. Quasar spectra and absorption profile fits are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.574904