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We report unbiased AI measurements of the fine structure constant $\alpha$ in two proximate absorption regions in the spectrum of the quasar HE0515$-$4414. The data are high resolution, high signal to noise, and laser frequency comb…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2025-03-18 John K. Webb , Chung-Chi Lee , Dinko Milakovic , Victor V. Flambaum , Vladimir A. Dzuba , Joao Magueijo

(abridged) We present a new analysis of a large sample of quasar absorption-line spectra obtained using UVES (the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph) on the VLT (Very Large Telescope) in Chile. In the VLT sample (154 absorbers), we…

Testing possible variations in fundamental constants of nature is a crucial endeavor in observational cosmology. This paper investigates potential cosmological variations in the fine structure constant ($\alpha$) through a non-parametric…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2024-10-30 Marcelo Ferreira , Rodrigo F. L. Holanda , Javier E. Gonzalez , L. R. Colaço , Rafael C. Nunes

Recent updated results of quasar spectra suggested a 3.9$\sigma$ significance of spatial variation of the fine-structure constant. Theoretically, it is important to examine whether the fine-structure constant, as a fundamental constant in…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2020-11-17 Zhe Chang , Qing-Hua Zhu

Inspired by the string axiverse idea, it has been suggested that the recent transition from decelerated to accelerated cosmic expansion is driven by an axion-like quintessence field with a sub-Planckian decay constant. The scenario requires…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2016-07-05 Razieh Emami , Daniel Grin , Josef Pradler , Alvise Raccanelli , Marc Kamionkowski

Comparison of quasar absorption line spectra with laboratory spectra provides a precise probe for variability of the fine structure constant, alpha, over cosmological time-scales. We constrain variation in alpha in 21 Keck/HIRES Si IV…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-08-18 M. T. Murphy , J. K. Webb , V. V. Flambaum , J. X. Prochaska , A. M. Wolfe

Development of fundamental physics relies on the constancy of various fundamental quantities such as the fine structure constant. Detecting or constraining the possible time variations of these fundamental physical quantities is an…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-10 H. Chand , R. Srianand , P. Petitjean , B. Aracil

We relate possible cosmological variations in the mass ratio mu \equiv m_p/m_e and the fine structure constant alpha to long-range composition-dependent forces mediated by a scalar field. The differential acceleration eta in Eotvos-type…

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology · Physics 2010-10-27 Thomas Dent

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…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2016-01-13 C. J. A. P. Martins , A. M. M. Pinho , P. Carreira , A. Gusart , J. López , C. I. S. A. Rocha

We show how the combination of observations related to strong gravitational lensing and stellar dynamics in ellipticals offers a new way to measure the cosmological matter and dark-energy density parameters. A gravitational lensing estimate…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-13 C. Grillo , M. Lombardi , G. Bertin

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…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2021-11-24 Zhi-E Liu , Wen-Fei Liu , Tong-Jie Zhang , Zhong-Xu Zhai , Kamal Bora

The redshift drift is a model-independent probe of fundamental cosmology, but choosing a fiducial model one can also use it to constrain the model parameters. We compare the constraining power of redshift drift measurements by the Extremely…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2021-09-01 J. Esteves , C. J. A. P. Martins , B. G. Pereira , C. S. Alves

We describe a rigorous construction, using matched asymptotic expansions, which establishes under very general conditions that local terrestrial and solar-system experiments will measure the effects of varying `constants' of Nature…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2011-07-19 Douglas J. Shaw , John D. Barrow

Searches for variations of fundamental constants require accurate measurement errors. There are several potential sources of errors and quantifying each one accurately is essential. This paper addresses one source of uncertainty relating to…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2022-12-02 Chung-Chi Lee , John K. Webb , Darren Dougan , Vladimir A. Dzuba , Victor V. Flambaum

Strong lensing time delay measurements provide a valuable and almost model-independent tool for cosmological investigations. In this work we recognize that they also carry information on the strength of the gravitational coupling at the…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2020-09-11 Leonardo Giani , Emmanuel Frion

Laboratory experiments to explore plasma conditions and stimulated particle acceleration can illuminate aspects of the cosmic particle acceleration process. Here we discuss the cosmic-ray candidate source object variety, and what has been…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2009-12-15 Roland Diehl

We present a detailed analysis of present and future Cosmic Microwave Background constraints of the value of the fine-structure constant, $\alpha$. We carry out a more detailed analysis of the WMAP first-year data, deriving state-of-the-art…

We study the $\Lambda(\alpha)$CDM models with $\Lambda(\alpha)$ being a function of the time-varying fine structure constant $\alpha$. We give a close look at the constraints on two specific $\Lambda(\alpha)$CDM models with one and two…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2018-09-13 Jin-Jun Zhang , Lu Yin , Chao-Qiang Geng

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,…

In this paper, we obtain new measurements of the angular homogeneity scale ($\theta_H$) from the BOSS DR12 and eBOSS DR16 catalogs of Luminous Red Galaxies of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Considering the flat $\Lambda$CDM model, we use the…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2025-07-15 Xiaoyun Shao , Carlos A. P. Bengaly , Rodrigo S. Gonçalves , Gabriela C. Carvalho , Jailson Alcaniz