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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…

Astrophysics · Physics 2011-05-23 A. V. Ivanchik , A. Y. Potekhin , D. A. Varshalovich

By measuring the fundamental constants in astrophysical objects one can test basic physical principles as space-time invariance of physical laws along with probing the applicability limits of the standard model of particle physics. The…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2016-03-07 S. A. Levshakov

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,…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2011-06-16 J. C. Berengut , V. V. Flambaum , J. A. King , S. J. Curran , J. K. Webb

Recent quasar spectroscopy from the VLT and Keck telescopes suggests that fundamental constants may not actually be constant. To better confirm or refute this result, systematic errors between telescopes must be minimized. We present a new…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-17 Tyler M. Evans , Michael T. Murphy

We analyze the consistency of different astronomical data of the variation in the fine-structure constant obtained with KECK and VLT. We tested the consistency using the Student test and confidence intervals. We splited the data sets in to…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2013-08-27 Lucila Kraiselburd , Susana J. Landau , Claudio Simeone

Detecting or placing upper limits on spacetime variations of fundamental constants requires quantifying every potential source of uncertainty. We continue our previous study into the impact of continuum variations on measurements of the…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2024-10-02 John K. Webb , Chung-Chi Lee , Dinko Milaković , Darren Dougan , Vladimir A. Dzuba , Victor V. Flambaum

Cosmography is a phenomenological and relatively model-independent approach to cosmology, where physical quantities are expanded as a Taylor series in the cosmological redshift, or in related variables. Here we apply this methodology to…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2022-03-08 C. J. A. P. Martins , F. P. S. A. Ferreira , P. V. Marto

We previously reported Keck telescope observations suggesting a smaller value of the fine structure constant, alpha, at high redshift. New Very Large Telescope (VLT) data, probing a different direction in the universe, shows an inverse…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-19 J. K. Webb , J. A. King , M. T. Murphy , V. V. Flambaum , R. F. Carswell , M. B. Bainbridge

Nine quasar absorption spectra at 21-cm and UV rest-wavelengths are used to estimate possible variations in x=alpha^2 g_p mu, (alpha is the fine structure constant, g_p the proton g-factor and mu=me/mp the electron-to-proton mass ratio). We…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-11-26 P. Tzanavaris , M. T. Murphy , J. K. Webb , V. V. Flambaum , S. J. Curran

The strongest transitions of Zn and CrII are the most sensitive to relative variations in the fine-structure constant ($\Delta\alpha/\alpha$) among the transitions commonly observed in quasar absorption spectra. They also lie within just…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2016-10-04 Michael T. Murphy , Adrian L. Malec , J. Xavier Prochaska

If the reported measurements of the time variation of the fine structure constant from observations of distant QSOs are correct, combined with the Oklo limit they would strongly constrain the class of the quintessence potential. If these…

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology · Physics 2009-11-07 Takeshi Chiba , Kazunori Kohri

Determination of the fine structure constant alpha and search for its possible variation are considered. We focus on a role of the fine structure constant in modern physics and discuss precision tests of quantum electrodynamics. Different…

Atomic Physics · Physics 2015-06-26 Savely G. Karshenboim

I review recent constraints on and claimed detections of a time-varying fine-structure constant $\alpha$. Our results are consistent with no variation in $\alpha$ from the epoch of recombination to the present day, and restrict any such…

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology · Physics 2016-09-06 C. J. A. P. Martins

Detection of high-redshift absorption in the optical spectra of quasars have provided a powerful tool to measure spatial and temporal variations of physical ``constants'' in the Universe. It is demonstrated that high sensitivity to the…

Atomic Physics · Physics 2009-10-31 V. A. Dzuba , V. V. Flambaum , J. K. Webb.

This article reviews the two major recent developments that significantly improved cosmological measurements of fundamental constants derived from high resolution quasar spectroscopy. The first one is the deployment of astronomical Laser…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2023-01-20 Dinko Milaković , Chung-Chi Lee , Paolo Molaro , John K. Webb

Observations of metal absorption systems in the spectra of distant quasars allow to constrain a possible variation of the fine-structure constant throughout the history of the Universe. Such a test poses utmost demands on the wavelength…

Precision measurements of nature's fundamental couplings and a first measurement of the cosmological redshift drift are two of the key targets for future high-resolution ultra-stable spectrographs such as CODEX. Being able to do both gives…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-04 P. E. Vielzeuf , C. J. A. P. Martins

One of the topical problems of contemporary physics is a possible variability of the fundamental constants. Here we consider possible variability of two dimensionless constants which are most important for calculation of atomic and…

Atomic Physics · Physics 2016-09-08 D. A. Varshalovich , A. Y. Potekhin , A. V. Ivanchik

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