Related papers: Possible evidence for a variable fine structure co…
In this note we observe that Webb and co-workers' observation of an evolving fine structure constant has since been reconfirmed. We also confirm Kuhne's contention that this implies a cosmological constant and exhibit a cosmological…
Starting from astrophysical indications that the fine structure constant might undergo a small cosmological time shift, we discuss the implications of such an effect from the point of view of particle physics. Grand unification implies…
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…
Cosmological dark energy is a natural source of variation of the fine structure constant. Using a model-independent approach we show that once general assumptions about the alpha-varying interactions are made, astronomical probes of its…
In the present work the part of the quasar UV-optical bump within the wavelength range 1210-1450\AA\ was studied with the help of composite spectra compiled from the samples of SDSS DR7 spectra with the similar spectral index…
If the recent observations suggesting a time variation of the fine structure constant are correct, they imply the existence of an ultra light scalar particle. This particle inevitably couples to nucleons through the \alpha-dependence of…
The differences are discussed between various next-to-leading order prescriptions for the QCD evolution of parton densities and structure functions. Their quantitative impact is understood to an accuracy of 0.02\%. The uncertainties due to…
This paper describes a study of the Lyman-alpha forest absorption clouds along the quasar sightline Q0000-26 (zem=4.1). The spectrum was obtained with the High Resolution Spectrometer on the 10m Keck telescope. We derive accurate H I column…
We study dependence of the CMB temperature anisotropy spectrum on the value of the fine structure constant $\alpha$ and the equation of state of the dark energy component of the total density of the universe. We find that bounds imposed on…
We present high resolution optical spectra obtained with the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and 21-cm absorption spectra obtained with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) and the…
From astrophysics there are indications that the finestructure constant $\alpha $ has changed during the past 10 billion years. Within grand unification one can deduce that also the QCD scale has changed. Tests for a time variation of this…
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,…
We outline the physical picture of the high-redshift Ly-alpha forest that has emerged from cosmological simulations, describe statistical characteristics of the forest that can be used to test theories of structure formation, present a…
We quantify the uncertainty in weak lensing mass estimates of clusters of galaxies, caused by distant (uncorrelated) large scale structure along the line of sight. We find that the effect is fairly small for deep observations (20<R<26) of…
We present the constraints on the Quintessence scalar field model from the observational data of the variation of the fine structure constant obtained from Keck and VLT telescopes. Within the theoretical frame proposed by Bekenstein, the…
The relative effects of variation of the fine structure constant alpha=e^2/hc and dimensionless strong interaction parameter m_q/Lambda_{QCD} are enhanced 5-6 orders of magnitude in very narrow ultraviolet transition between the ground and…
This paper reports the X-ray spectral analysis of 5 high-redshift (z \ge 2) radio-quiet quasars observed by ASCA. A simple power law continuum plus cold Galactic absorption model well fits all the spectra (tipically between $\sim$ 2-30 keV…
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…
Many modern theories predict that the fundamental constants depend on time, position, or the local density of matter. We develop a spectroscopic method for pulsed beams of cold molecules, and use it to measure the frequencies of microwave…
We investigate the spectro-photometric variability of quasars due to lensing of small mass substructure (from several tens to several hundreds solar masses). The aim of this paper is to explore the milli/microlensing influence on the flux…