On the stability of fundamental couplings in the Galaxy

Astrophysical tests of the stability of Nature's fundamental couplings are a key probe of the standard paradigms in fundamental physics and cosmology. In this report we discuss updated constraints on the stability of the fine-structure constant α and the proton-to-electron mass ratio μ=mp/me wi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics letters. B 2015-10, Vol.749 (C), p.389-392
Main Authors: João, S.M., Martins, C.J.A.P., Mota, I.S.A.B., Vianez, P.M.T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrophysical observation
Fundamental couplings
Unification scenarios
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Summary:Astrophysical tests of the stability of Nature's fundamental couplings are a key probe of the standard paradigms in fundamental physics and cosmology. In this report we discuss updated constraints on the stability of the fine-structure constant α and the proton-to-electron mass ratio μ=mp/me within the Galaxy. We revisit and improve upon the analysis by Truppe et al. [1] by allowing for the possibility of simultaneous variations of both couplings and also by combining them with the recent measurements by Levshakov et al. [2]. By considering representative unification scenarios we find no evidence for variations of α at the 0.4 ppm level, and of μ at the 0.6 ppm level; if one uses the [2] bound on μ as a prior, the α bound is improved to 0.1 ppm. We also highlight how these measurements can constrain (and discriminate among) several fundamental physics paradigms.
ISSN:0370-2693
1873-2445
DOI:10.1016/j.physletb.2015.08.018