Related papers: Constraints on variation in $\alpha$ and $m_e$ fro…
The current observational and experimental bounds on the time variation of the constants of nature (the fine structure constant $\alpha$, the gravitational constant $G$ and the proton-electron mass ratio $\mu=m_p/m_e$) are reviewed.
In some extensions of the standard model of particle physics, the values of the fundamental coupling constants vary in space and time. Some observations of quasars hint at time and spatial variation of the fine structure constant $\alpha$.…
We use the WMAP 7 data to place constraints on oscillations supplementing an almost scale-invariant primordial power spectrum. Such oscillations are predicted by a variety of models, some of which amount to assuming there is some…
Recent measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), particularly when combined with other datasets, have revolutionised our knowledge of the values of the basic cosmological parameters. Here we summarize the state of…
We present cosmological constraints from the combination of the full mission 9-year WMAP release and small-scale temperature data from the pre-Planck ACT and SPT generation of instruments. This is an update of the analysis presented in…
Light scalar fields very naturally appear in modern cosmological models, affecting such parameters of Standard Model as electromagnetic fine structure constant $\alpha$, dimensionless ratios of electron or quark mass to the QCD scale,…
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…
Review of recent works devoted to the temporal and spatial variation of the fundamental constants and dependence of the fundamental constants on the gravitational potential (violation of local position invariance) is presented. We discuss…
We estimate the cosmological variation of the proton-to-electron mass ratio \mu=m_p/m_e by measuring the wavelengths of molecular hydrogen transitions in the early universe. The analysis is performed using high spectral resolution…
Cosmological parameters are constrained by a wide variety of observations. We examine the concordance diagram for modern measurements of the Hubble constant, the shape parameter from large scale structure, the cluster baryon fraction, and…
We have estimated the CMB variance from the three-year WMAP data, finding a value which is significantly lower than the one expected from Gaussian simulations using the WMAP best-fit cosmological model, at a significance level of 98.7 per…
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:…
We report a robust constrain on the possible variation of fine-structure constant, alpha = e^2/(hbar*c), obtained using O III 4959,5007, nebular emission lines from QSOs. We find Delta-alpha/alpha=-(2.1 +/- 1.6) x 10^(-5) based on a well…
We present updated observational constraints on the spatially flat $\phi$CDM model, where dark energy is described by a minimally coupled scalar field $\phi$ with an inverse power-law potential $V=V_0 \phi^{-\alpha}$. Using Planck 2018 CMB…
If the fine structure constant $\alpha =e^2/(\hbar c)$ were to change, then a number of interpretations would be possible, attributing this change either to variations in the electron charge, the dielectric constant of the vacuum, the speed…
One of the characteristics of the "Matter Bounce" scenario, an alternative to cosmological inflation for producing a scale-invariant spectrum of primordial adiabatic fluctuations on large scales, is a break in the power spectrum at a…
Aims. We constrain a hypothetical variation in the fundamental physical constants over the course of cosmic time. Methods. We use unique observations of the CO(7-6) rotational line and the [CI] 3P_2 - 3P_1 fine-structure line towards a…
We analyse CMB data in a manner which is as model-independent as possible. We encode the effects of late-time cosmology into a single parameter which determines the distance to the last scattering surface. We exclude low multipoles…
A method offering an order of magnitude sensitivity gain is described for using quasar spectra to investigate possible time or space variation in the fine structure constant, alpha. Applying the technique to a sample of 30 absorption…
Using the most recent data from the WMAP, ACT and SPT experiments, we update the constraints on models with oscillatory features in the primordial power spectrum of scalar perturbations. This kind of features can appear in models of…