Related papers: A Simple Varying-alpha Cosmology
We study the change of the effective fine structure constant in the cosmological models of a scalar field with a non-vanishing coupling to the electromagnetic field. Combining cosmological data and terrestrial observations we place…
In this paper, we investigate how the fine structure constant, $\alpha$, locally varies in the presence of a static and spherically symmetric gravitational source. The procedure consists in calculating the solution and the energy…
Any variation of the fundamental physical constants, and more particularly of the fine structure constant, $\alpha$, or of the mass of the electron, $m_e$, would affect the recombination history of the Universe and cause an imprint on the…
It has been recently proposed that the presence of a temporal electromagnetic field on cosmological scales could explain the phase of accelerated expansion that the universe is currently undergoing. The field contributes as a cosmological…
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:…
We update the constraints on the time variation of the fine structure constant $\alpha$ and the electron mass $m_e$, using the latest CMB data, including the 7-yr release of WMAP. We made statistical analyses of the variation of each one of…
We review 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 quasar data that are…
We introduce a model which allows the fine structure constant (alpha) to vary throughout space and time due to a coupling to a scalar field with a non-canonical kinetic structure. This provided a new extension of the…
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…
We study a varying electric charge brane world cosmology in the RS2 model obtained from a varying-speed-of-light brane world cosmology by redefining the system of units. We elaborate conditions under which the flatness problem and the…
We have shown that the varying physical constant model is consistent with the recently published variational approach wherein Einstein equations are modified to include the variation of the speed of light c, gravitational constant G and…
We propose a phenomenological approach to the cosmological constant problem based on generally covariant non-local and acausal modifications of four-dimensional gravity at enormous distances. The effective Newton constant becomes very small…
We propose a general model where quintessence couples to electromagnetism via its kinetic term. This novelty generalizes the linear dependence of the gauge kinetic function on $\phi$, commonly adopted in the literature. The interaction…
We study the space-time evolution of the fine structure constant, $\alpha$, inside evolving spherical overdensities in a lambda-CDM Friedmann universe using the spherical infall model. We show that its value inside virialised regions will…
Last year I talked at this meeting about a possible time dependence of the QCD coupling constant $\alpha_s$. This year I shall look into the problem once more, without fully repeating the arguments given last year. Astrophysical indications…
We consider a toy universe containing conventional matter and an additional real scalar field, and discuss how the requirements of gauge and diffeomorphism invariance essentially single out a particular set of theories which might describe…
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…
Endeavours of the unification of the four fundamental interactions have resulted in a development of theories having cosmological solutions in which low-energy limits of fundamental physical constants vary with time. The validity of such…
We propose a time-varying cosmological constant with a fixed equation of state, which evolves mainly through its interaction with the background during most of the long history of the universe. However, such interaction does not exist in…
We examine the evolution of a closed, homogeneous and anisotropic cosmology subject to a variation of the fine structure 'constant', \alpha, within the context of the theory introduced by Bekenstein, Sandvik, Barrow and Magueijo, which…