Related papers: Observational Constraints on Varying-alpha Domain …
The effective potential for the Standard Model Higgs field allows two quasi-degenerate vacua; one is our vacuum at the electroweak scale, while the other is at a much higher scale. The latter minimum may be at a scale much smaller than the…
We have constrained the spatial variation of the fine structure constant using multi-frequency measurements of the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect of 618 X-ray selected clusters. Although our results are not competitive with the ones from…
We give an analytical description of the spatial distribution of domain walls produced during a biased nonequilibrium phase transition in the vacuum state of a light scalar field. We discuss in detail the spectrum of the associated…
The variability of the continuum spectral energy distribution has been analyzed for a complete magnitude-limited sample of quasars in Selected Area 57, observed at two epochs in the photographic $U$, $B_J$, $F$ and $N$ bands with the Mayall…
We consider the effects of large structures in the Universe on the Hubble diagram. This problem is treated non-linearly by considering a Swiss Cheese model of the Universe in which under-dense voids are represented as negatively curved…
The statistical uncertainty in measuring the primordial density perturbations on a given comoving scale is dictated by the number of independent regions of that scale that are accessible to an observer. This number varies with cosmic time…
[O III]$\lambda\lambda$4960,5008 doublet are often the strongest narrow emission lines in starburst galaxies and quasi-stellar objects (QSOs), and thus are a promising probe to possible variation of the fine-structure constant $\alpha$ over…
We put bounds on the variation of the value of the fine structure constant $\alpha$, at the time of Big Bang nucleosynthesis. We study carefully all light elements up to $^7$Li. We correct a previous upper limit on $|\Delta \alpha /…
The possibility of variation of the fundamental constants of nature has been a long-standing question, with important consequences for fundamental physics and cosmology. In particular, it has been shown that variations in the fine-structure…
We study how the evolution of a Dark Energy Quintessence fluid is modified by the presence of a matter inhomogeneity. To do so, we study linear perturbations of a flat FLRW background containing dust and a slowly rolling scalar field. Under…
We develop a velocity-dependent one-scale model for the evolution of domain wall networks in flat expanding or collapsing homogeneous and isotropic universes with an arbitrary number of spatial dimensions, finding the corresponding scaling…
We investigate the influence of domain walls on the vortex dynamics in superconductors with multi-component order parameters. We show that, due to their complex structure domain walls can carry vortices with fractional flux quanta. The…
We explore a possible time variation of the fine structure constant ($\alpha \equiv e^2/\hbar c$) using the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect measurements of galaxy clusters along with their X-ray observations. Specifically, the ratio of the…
We study domain wall induced by spontaneously broken $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry and its gravitational wave signature in the standard model with a complex scalar in connection with dark matter physics. In a minimal setup, a linear term of the…
We apply the scale-length method to several three dimensional samples of the Two degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey. This method allows us to map in a quantitative and powerful way large scale structures in the distribution of galaxies…
This paper develops constraints on the values of the fundamental constants that allow universes to be habitable. We focus on the fine structure constant $\alpha$ and the gravitational structure constant $\alpha_G$, and find the region in…
We show that domain walls separating coexisting extremal current phases in driven diffusive systems exhibit complex stochastic dynamics, with a subdiffusive temporal growth of position fluctuations due to long-range anticorrelated current…
We propose a new method to probe a possible time evolution of the fine structure constant $\alpha$ from X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich measurements of the gas mass fraction ($f_{gas}$) in galaxy clusters. Taking into account a direct relation…
Astrophysical tests of the stability of fundamental couplings, such as the fine-structure constant $\alpha$, are a powerful probe of new physics. Recently these measurements, combined with local atomic clock tests and Type Ia supernova and…
The theory of elasticity and pinning of domain walls in helical magnets is presented. Domain walls perpendicular to the helical axis show non-local elasticity and are marginally pinned by local disorder. Weak anisotropy combined with…