Related papers: Constraints on time variation of fine structure co…
Recent experimental data indicates that the fine structure constant alpha may be varying on cosmological time scales. We consider the possibility that such a variation could be induced by a second order phase transition which occurs at late…
We discuss the cosmological degeneracy between the Hubble parameter H(z), the age of the universe and cosmological parameters describing simple variations from the minimal LCDM model. We show that independent determinations of the Hubble…
Varying fundamental constants (VFC) [e.g., the fine-structure constant, $\alpha_{\rm EM}$] can arise in numerous extended cosmologies. Through their effect on the decoupling of baryons and photons during last scattering and reionisation,…
The optical spectra of objects classified as QSOs in the SDSS DR6 are analyzed with the aim of determining the value of the fine structure constant in the past and then check for possible changes in the constant over cosmological…
Using the BSBM varying-alpha theory, with dark matter dominated by magnetic energy, and the spherical collapse model for cosmological structure formation, we have studied the effects of the dark-energy equation of state and the coupling of…
The possible variation of the fine structure constant may be due to the non-minimal coupling of the electromagnetic field to a light scalar field which can be the candidate of dark energy. Its dynamical nature renders the fine structure…
The standard relation between the cosmological redshift and cosmic scale factor underlies cosmological inference from virtually all kinds of cosmological observations, leading to the emergence of the LambdaCDM cosmological model. This…
Observations of the CMB today allow us to answer detailed questions about the properties of our Universe, targeting both standard and non-standard physics. In this paper, we study the effects of varying fundamental constants (i.e., the…
Recently released Planck data favor a lower value of the Hubble constant and a higher value of the fraction matter density in the standard $\Lambda$CDM model, which are discrepant with some of the low-redshift measurements. Within the…
Low amplitude (linear regime) cosmic density fluctuations lead to spatial variations in the locally measurable value of $H_0$ (denoted as $H_L$), $\delta_H \equiv (H_L-H_0)/H_0$, which are of order 3-6% (95% confidence interval) in a sphere…
We previously reported Keck telescope observations suggesting a smaller value of the fine structure constant, alpha, at high redshift. New Very Large Telescope (VLT) data, probing a different direction in the universe, shows an inverse…
We critically assess recent claims suggesting that upper limits on the time variation of the fine-structure constant tightly constrain the coupling of a dark energy scalar field to the electromagnetic sector, and, indirectly, the violation…
With the recent measurement of full sky cosmic microwave background polarization from WMAP, key cosmological degeneracies have been broken, allowing tighter constraints to be placed on cosmological parameters inferred assuming a standard…
We compute primordial light-element abundances for cases with fine structure constant alpha different from the present value, including many sources of alpha dependence neglected in previous calculations. Specifically, we consider…
Far infrared fine-structure transitions of CI and CII and rotational transitions of CO are used to probe hypothetical variations of the electron-to-proton mass ratio mu = m_e/m_p at the epoch of reionization (z > 6). A constraint on Delta…
We calculate bounds on the variation of the fine structure constant at the time of primordial nucleosynthesis and at the time of neutral hydrogen formation. We use these bounds and other bounds from the late universe to test Bekenstein…
I briefly present some current theoretical motivations for time or space variations of the fundamental constants of nature and review current key observational results. I focus on the fine-structure constant, and particularly on…
Calculation of the Dirac hydrogen atom spectrum in the framework of dynamical fine structure constant (alpha) variability discloses a small departure in the laboratory from Sommerfeld's formula for the fine structure shifts, possibly…
The conceptual difficulties associated with a cosmological constant have led to the investigation of alternative models in which the equation of state parameter, $w=p/\rho$, of the dark energy evolves with time. We show that combining the…
Recent theoretical ideas and observational claims suggest that the fine structure constant alpha may be variable. We examine a spectrum of models in which alpha is a function of a scalar field. Specifically, we consider three scenarios:…