Related papers: Keck constraints on a varying fine-structure const…
Order statistics of periodic, Gaussian noise with 1/f^{\alpha} power spectrum is investigated. Using simulations and phenomenological arguments, we find three scaling regimes for the average gap d_k=<x_k-x_{k+1}> between the k-th and…
Time variability of astronomical sources provides crude information on their typical size and on the implied physical mechanisms. PKS1830-211 is a remarkable radio-bright lensed quasar with a foreground molecular absorber at z=0.89.…
This paper reports the X-ray spectral analysis of 5 high-redshift (z \ge 2) radio-quiet quasars observed by ASCA. A simple power law continuum plus cold Galactic absorption model well fits all the spectra (tipically between $\sim$ 2-30 keV…
We search for transient variations of the fine structure constant using data from a European network of fiber-linked optical atomic clocks. By searching for coherent variations in the recorded clock frequency comparisons across the network,…
Verification of theoretical predictions of an oscillating behavior of the fine-structure constant, alpha, with cosmic time requires high precision measurements at individual redshifts, while in earlier studies the mean Delta alpha/alpha…
We present 13 seasons of $R$-band photometry of the quadruply-lensed quasar WFI 2033-4723 from the 1.3m SMARTS telescope at CTIO and the 1.2m Euler Swiss Telescope at La Silla, in which we detect microlensing variability of $\sim0.2$ mags…
OSIRIS is a near-infrared integral field spectrograph operating behind the adaptive optics system at W. M. Keck Observatory. While OSIRIS has been a scientifically productive instrument to date, its sensitivity has been limited by a grating…
We investigate the impact of statistical and systematic errors on measurements of linear redshift-space distortions (RSD) in future cosmological surveys, analyzing large catalogues of dark-matter halos from the BASICC simulation. These…
The recent measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies at arcminute angular scales performed by the ACT and SPT experiments are probing the damping regime of CMB fluctuations. The analysis of these datasets unexpectedly…
We present spectroscopy from the Keck telescope of three sets of objects in the Hubble Deep Field which have lens-like morphologies. In the case of J123641+621204, which is composed of four objects with similar colors and a mean separation…
Peik and Tamm [Europhys. Lett. 61, 181 (2003)] proposed a nuclear clock based on the isomeric transition between the ground state and the first excited state of thorium-229. This transition was recognized as a potentially sensitive probe of…
We study the evolution of the fine-structure constant, $\alpha$, induced by non-linear density perturbations in the context of the simplest class of quintessence models with a non-minimal coupling to the electromagnetic field, in which the…
We directly measure the evolution of the intergalactic Lyman-alpha effective optical depth, tau_eff, over the redshift range 2<z<4.2 from a sample of 86 high-resolution, high-signal-to-noise quasar spectra obtained with Keck/ESI,…
We study the photocenter position variability due to variations in the quasar inner structure. We consider variability in the accretion disk emissivity and torus structure variability due to different illumination by the central source. We…
In extensions of general relativity and in theories aiming at unifying gravity with the forces of the Standard Model, the value of the "fundamental constants" is often determined by the vacuum expectation value of new fields, which may thus…
We present results from our ongoing spectroscopic search for giant planets within 1 AU around a well-defined sample of metal-poor stars with HIRES on the Keck 1 telescope. We have achieved an rms radial velocity precision of $\sim 8$ m/s…
We present heavy element abundance measurements for 16 DAO white dwarfs, determined from Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer {FUSE} spectra. Evidence of absorption by heavy elements was found in the spectra of all the objects.…
The second-generation instrument SPHERE, dedicated to high-contrast imaging, will soon be in operation on the European Very Large Telescope. Such an instrument relies on an extreme adaptive optics system coupled with a coronagraph that…
Recently, white dwarf stars have found a new use in the fundamental physics community. Many prospective theories of the fundamental interactions of Nature allow traditional constants, like the fine structure constant $\alpha$, to vary in…
Spectral differences between lensed quasar image components are common. Since lensing is intrinsically achromatic, these differences are typically explained as the effect of either microlensing, or as light path time delays sampling…