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Astrophysical limits on the evolution of dimensionless physical constants over cosmological time

Jul, 1995
10 pages
Published in:
  • Astrophys.J. 453 (1995) 596-598
e-Print:
DOI:
Report number:
  • IFA-95-30
View in:
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Abstract: (arXiv)
We report new upper limits on any possible long-term time variation of the ratio of the electron to proton masses, (me/mp)(m_e/m_p), the fine-structure constant, (α\alpha), and the quantity α2gp(me/mp)\alpha^2 g_p(m_e/m_p), where gpg_p is the proton gyromagnetic ratio. These limits are based on extremely high precision observations of H2_2, Si3+^{3+}, C0^0 and H0^0 in high-redshift quasar absorption lines. They amount to 95\% confidence ranges of (−7.6→9.7)×10−14(-7.6\to 9.7) \times 10^{-14} yr−1^{-1} for (me/mpm_e/m_p), (−4.6→4.2)×10−14(-4.6\to 4.2)\times 10^{-14} yr−1^{-1} for α\alpha\ and (−2.2→4.2)×10−15(-2.2\to 4.2) \times 10^{-15} yr−1^{-1} for α2gp(me/mp)\alpha^2 g_p(m_e/m_p), where the elapsed time has been computed for a cosmology with \hnought = 75 km s−1^{-1} Mpc−1^{-1} and \qnought = 0.5.
  • mass ratio: (p electron)
  • (p electron): mass ratio
  • fundamental constant: fine structure
  • astrophysics: constraint
  • fundamental constant: time dependence
  • numerical calculations