Related papers: The Relation Between Fundamental Constants and Par…
Based on recent work on nuclear binding, we update and extend the anthropic constraints on the light quark masses, with results that are more tightly constrained than previously obtained. We find that heavy nuclei would fall apart (because…
Cosmography is a model-independent phenomenological approach to observational cosmology, relying on Taylor series expansions of physical quantities as a function of the cosmological redshift or other analogous variables. A recent work…
We present a new framework to study the time variation of fundamental constants in a model-independent way. Model independence implies more free parameters than assumed in previous studies. Using data from atomic clocks based on $^{87}$Sr,…
Five fundamental scales of mass follow from holographic limitations, a self-similar law for angular momentum and the basic scaling laws for a fractal universe with dimension 2. The five scales correspond to the observable universe,…
The fundamental constants at recombination can differ from their present-day values due to degeneracies in cosmological parameters, raising the possibility of yet-undiscovered physics coupled directly to the Standard Model. We study the…
A possible explanation is offered for the longstanding mystery surrounding the meaning of the fine structure constant. The reasoning is based on a discrete self-similar cosmological paradigm that has shown promise in explaining the general…
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…
Modifications of Heisenberg's uncertainty relations have been proposed in the literature which imply a minimum position uncertainty. We study the low energy effects of the new physics responsible for this by examining the consequent change…
We investigate a link between the running of the fine structure constant $\alpha$ and a time evolving scalar dark energy field. Employing a versatile parameterization for the equation of state, we exhaustively cover the space of dark energy…
We investigate constraints on the time variation of the fine structure constant between the recombination epoch and the present epoch, \Delta\alpha/\alpha \equiv (\alpha_{rec} - \alpha_{now})/\alpha_{now}, from cosmic microwave background…
We discuss present and future cosmological constraints on variations of the fine structure constant $\alpha$ induced by an early dark energy component having the simplest allowed (linear) coupling to electromagnetism. We find that current…
I review how electroweak precision observables can be used to constrain the Higgs boson mass and the strong coupling constant. Implications for physics beyond the Standard Model are also addressed.
In a recent publication [Ferreira {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. D89 (2014) 083011] we tested the consistency of current astrophysical tests of the stability of the fine-structure constant $\alpha$ and the proton-to-electron mass ratio…
We derive strong observational limits on any possible large-scale spatial variation in the values of physical 'constants' whose space-time evolution is driven by a scalar field. The limits are imposed by the isotropy of the microwave…
We obtain constraints on the variation of the fundamental constants from the full shape of the redshift-space correlation function of a sample of luminous galaxies drawn from the Data Release 9 of the Baryonic Oscillations Spectroscopic…
We study the cosmological evolution of the fine structure constant, $\alpha$, and the proton-to-electron mass ratio, $\mu=m_p/m_e$, in the context of a generic class of models where the gauge kinetic function is a linear function of a…
We present a review of recent works devoted to the variation of the fine structure constant alpha, strong interaction and fundamental masses. There are some hints for the variation in quasar absorption spectra, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and…
We studied the role of fundamental constants in an updated recombination scenario, focusing on the time variation of the fine structure constant \alpha and the electron mass m_e in the early Universe. Using CMB data including WMAP 5-yr…
One of the puzzles of the Standard Model is why the mass parameter which determines the scale of the Weak interactions is closer to the scale of QCD than to the Grand Unification or Planck scales. We discuss a novel approach to this problem…
The possibility that the vacuum energy density (VED), $\rho_{\rm vac}$, could be time dependent in the expanding Universe is intuitively more reasonable than just a rigid cosmological constant for the entire cosmic history. The dynamics of…