Related papers: $\Delta\alpha/\alpha$ from QSO absorption lines dr…
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…
We provide a unified description of cosmological $\alpha$-attractors and late-time acceleration, in excellent agreement with the latest Planck data. Our construction involves two superfields playing distinctive roles: one is the dynamical…
Theoretical background of our proposed relation between the accelerating universe and the time-variability of the fine-structure constant is discussed, based on the scalar-tensor theory, with emphases on the intuitive aspects of underlying…
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…
In the present work, an attempt has been made to explain the recent cosmic acceleration with two mutually interacting scalar fields, one being the Brans-Dicke scalar field and the other a quintessence scalar field. Conditions have been…
We have previously presented 5.7-sigma evidence for a smaller alpha at redshifts 0.2 < z_abs < 3.7 from a sample of 128 Keck/HIRES quasar absorption systems: da/a = (-0.57 +/- 0.10) x 10^{-5}. A non-zero da/a manifests itself as a distinct…
In a recent paper we considered the possibility of a scalar field providing an explanation for the cosmic acceleration. Our model had the interesting properties of attractor-like behavior and having its parameters of O(1) in Planck units.…
We present a model where a non-conventional scalar field may act like dark energy leading to cosmic acceleration. The latter is driven by an appropriate field configuration, which result in an effective cosmological constant. The potential…
We consider an extended scalar-tensor theory of gravity where the action has two interacting scalar fields, a Brans-Dicke field which makes the effective Newtonian constant a function of coordinates and a Higgs field which has derivative…
Recent astrophysical observations of quasar absorption systems indicate that the fine structure constant $\alpha$ and the proton-electron mass ratio $\mu$ may have evolved through the history of the universe. Motivated by these…
Calculation of the Dirac hydrogen atom spectrum in the framework of dynamical fine structure constant (alpha) variability discloses a small departure in the laboratory from Sommerfeld's formula for the fine structure shifts, possibly…
Absorption-line systems detected in high resolution quasar spectra can be used to compare the value of dimensionless fundamental constants such as the fine-structure constant, alpha, and the proton-to-electron mass ratio, mu = m_p/m_e, as…
From an observational perspective cosmology is today in excellent shape - advances in instrumentation and data processing have enabled us to study the universe in detail back to when the first galaxies formed, map the fluctuations in the…
We determine the behaviour of a time-varying fine structure 'constant' $\alpha (t)$ during the early and late phases of universes dominated by the kinetic energy of changing $\alpha (t)$, radiation, dust, curvature, and lambda,…
A matter-coupled scalar field model is presented in obtaining a scalar fifth force when the constraint of the current cosmological constant is satisfied. The interaction potential energy density between the scalar field and matter has a…
We present a numerical study of the relation between the cosmic peculiar velocity field and the gravitational acceleration field. We show that on mildly non-linear scales (4-10 Mpc Gaussian smoothing), the distribution of the Cartesian…
We derive an effective dynamics for scalar cosmological perturbations from quantum gravity, in the framework of group field theory (GFT) condensate cosmology. The emergent spacetime picture is obtained from the mean field hydrodynamic…
The optical spectra of objects classified as QSOs in the SDSS DR6 are analyzed with the aim of determining the value of the fine structure constant in the past and then check for possible changes in the constant over cosmological…
Large scale structure surveys will likely become the next leading cosmological probe. In our universe, matter perturbations are large on short distances and small at long scales, i.e. strongly coupled in the UV and weakly coupled in the IR.…
The present acceleration of the Universe strongly indicated by recent observational data can be modeled in the scope of a scalar-tensor theory of gravity. We show that it is possible to determine the structure of this theory (the scalar…