Related papers: Looking for a varying $\alpha$ in the Cosmic Micro…
We use the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy data from Planck to constrain the spatial fluctuations of the fine-structure constant \alpha. Through Thompson scattering of CMB photons, spatial anisotropies of \alpha lead to…
It has been widely believed that variability of the fine-structure constant alpha would imply detectable violations of the weak equivalence principle. This belief is not justified in general. It is put to rest here in the context of the…
In their Letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 121302 (2004)] (also [Astron. Astrophys. 417, 853 (2004)]), Srianand et al. analysed optical spectra of heavy-element species in 23 absorption systems along background quasar sight-lines, reporting…
The spectrograph ESPRESSO recently obtained a limit on the variation of the fine-structure constant, $\alpha$, through measurements along the line of sight of a bright quasar with a precision of $1.36$ ppm at $1\sigma$ level. This imposes…
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…
The detection of a spatial variation of the fine-structure constant, alpha, based on study of quasar absorption systems has recently been reported. The physics that causes this alpha-variation should have other observable manifestations,…
Experimental study of the anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is gathering momentum. The eagerly awaited Boomerang results have lived up to expectations. They provide convincing evidence in favor of the standard paradigm:…
We show that recent measurements of the power spectrum of cosmic microwave background anisotropies by BOOMERanG and MAXIMA can be characterized by four observables, the position of the first acoustic peak l_1= 206 pm 6, the height of the…
The very recent Boomerang results give an estimate of unprecedented precision of the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies on sub--degree scales. A puzzling feature for theoretical cosmology is the low amplitude of the second acoustic…
We review the observational information on the constancy of the fine structure constant alpha. We find that small improvements on the measurement of ^{187}Re lifetime can provide significant progress in exploring the range of variability…
Using a gauge-invariant formalism we derive and solve the perturbed cosmological equations for the BSBM theory of varying fine structure 'constant'. We calculate the time evolution of inhomogeneous perturbations of the fine structure…
We review properties of cosmological theories for the variation of the fine structure 'constant'. We highlight some general features of the cosmological models that exist in these theories with reference to recent quasar data that are…
In universes with significant curvature or cosmological constant, cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies are created very recently via the Rees-Sciama or integrated Sachs-Wolfe effects. This causes the CMB anisotropies to become…
Recent measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies by BOOMERANG and MAXIMA collaborations have tightened the observational constraints on theories of structure formation. They disagree with the predictions of…
We review some of the history and properties of theories for the variation of the gravitation and fine structure 'constants'. We highlight some general features of the cosmological models that exist in these theories with reference to…
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:…
Absorption spectroscopy toward high-redshift quasars provides strong constraints on the putative variation of fundamental constants of physics on cosmological time scales. The submillimeter ground-state transitions of methylidyne (CH) and…
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…
Recent high precision measurements of the CMB anisotropies performed by the BOOMERanG and MAXIMA-1 experiments provide an unmatched set of data allowing to probe different cosmological models. Among these scenarios, motivated by the recent…
Contemporary multidimensional cosmological theories predict different variations of fundamental physical constants in course of the cosmological evolution. On the basis of the QSO spectra analysis, we show that the fine-structure constant…