Related papers: The Meaning Of The Fine Structure Constant
It is considered that quasars evolve into normal galaxies by means of expansion of matter. The order of magnitude of the expansion velocity can be estimated. The Doppler shift caused by such expansion explains the supposed variation of 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:…
The recent evidence for a cosmological evolution of the fine structure constant \alpha=e^2/\hbar c found from an analysis of absorption systems in the spectra of distant quasars, is modelled by a cosmological scenario in which it is assumed…
Is gravitational growth responsible for the observed large scale structure in the universe? Do we need non-gaussian initial conditions or non-gravitational physics to explain the large scale features traced by galaxy surveys? I will briefly…
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…
Dense suspensions of fine particles are significant in numerous biological, industrial, and natural phenomena. They also provide an ideal tool to develop statistical mechanics description for out-of-equilibrium systems. Predicting the bulk…
We will look for an implementation of new symmetries in the space-time structure and their cosmological implications. This search will allow us to find a unified vision for electrodynamics and gravitation. We will attempt to develop a…
The gravitational field produced by a domain wall acts as a medium with spacetime-dependent permittivity \epsilon. Therefore, the fine structure constant \alpha = e^2/4 \pi \epsilon will be a time-dependent function at fixed position. The…
Webb et al. presented preliminary evidence for a time-varying fine-structure constant. We show Teller's formula for this variation to be ruled out within the Einstein-de Sitter universe, however, it is compatible with cosmologies which…
The physical origin of spacetime discreteness remains a central open problem in quantum gravity, with most existing approaches relying on specific microscopic structures or model-dependent assumptions. In this letter, spacetime discreteness…
It is believed that gravity will be explained in the framework of the existing quantum theory when one succeeds in eliminating divergencies at large momenta or small distances (although the phenomenon of gravity has been observed only at…
The relevance of the Planck scale to a theory of quantum gravity has become a worryingly little examined assumption that goes unchallenged in the majority of research in this area. However, in all scientific honesty, the significance of…
Standard concepts of nuclear physics explaining the systematics of ground state spins in nuclei by the presence of specific coherent terms in the nucleon-nucleon interaction were put in doubt by the observation that these systematics can be…
Although we lack complete understanding of quantum aspects of gravitation, it is usually agreed, using general arguments, that a final quantum gravity theory will endow space and time with some (fundamental or effective) notion of…
A new approach to the phenomenon of large numbers coincidence leads to unexpected results. No matter how strange it might sound, the exact value of cosmological parameters and their analytical expression through fundamental constants have…
This article reviews the prevailing paradigm for how galaxies and larger structures formed in the universe: gravitational instability. Basic observational facts are summarized to motivate the standard cosmological framework underlying most…
Although it is well known that any consideration of the variations of fundamental constants should be restricted to their dimensionless combinations, the literature on variations of the gravitational constant $G$ is entirely dimensionful.…
Dynamical vacuum energy or quintessence, a slowly varying and spatially inhomogeneous component of the energy density with negative pressure, is currently consistent with the observational data. One potential difficulty with the idea of…
Cosmography is a phenomenological and relatively model-independent approach to cosmology, where physical quantities are expanded as a Taylor series in the cosmological redshift, or in related variables. Here we apply this methodology to…
The effective coupling `constants' of physics, especially the cosmological constant, are observed to have highly biophilic values. If this is not a hugely improbable accident, or a consequence of some mysterious logical necessity or of some…