References & Citations
Astrophysics
Title: Further Evidence for Cosmological Evolution of the Fine Structure Constant
(Submitted on 29 Dec 2000 (v1), last revised 4 Sep 2001 (this version, v3))
Abstract: We describe the results of a search for time variability of the fine structure constant, alpha, using absorption systems in the spectra of distant quasars. Three large optical datasets and two 21cm/mm absorption systems provide four independent samples, spanning 23% to 87% of the age of the universe. Each sample yields a smaller alpha in the past and the optical sample shows a 4-sigma deviation: da/a = -0.72 +/- 0.18 x 10^{-5} over the redshift range 0.5 < z < 3.5. We find no systematic effects which can explain our results. The only potentially significant systematic effects push da/a towards positive values, i.e. our results would become more significant were we to correct for them.
Submission history
From: John Webb [view email][v1] Fri, 29 Dec 2000 16:22:11 GMT (49kb)
[v2] Fri, 19 Jan 2001 02:17:52 GMT (49kb)
[v3] Tue, 4 Sep 2001 05:50:36 GMT (14kb)