Abstract
A new stringent limit relating to the variation of the fine-structure constant ( α = e 2 4 π ε 0 ℏ c ) has been extracted from Ritz wavelengths of 27 quasi_stellar object (QSO) absorption spectra lines of Fe II. The calculation was combined with laboratory wavelengths and QSO spectra to obtain the result Δ α / α = ( 0.027 ± 0.832 ) × 10 − 6 . This result suggests how dedicated astrophysical estimations can improve these limits in the future and can also constrain space_time variations.
Highlights
One of the most interesting problems of contemporary physics addresses space_time variations of the fundamental constants across the evolution of the Universe, a possibility considered by Dirac [1]and Milne [2]
We propose to make use of the Ritz wavelengths of 27 quasi_stellar object (QSO) absorption line spectra of Fe II to constrain any variations in the fine-structure constant on cosmological space and time scales [29,30,31,32,33]
The spectral data were first examinedandassociated with every object, the absorption lines were fitted to determine the Fe II transitions in order to estimate the relevant values of ∆α/α
Summary
One of the most interesting problems of contemporary physics addresses space_time variations of the fundamental constants across the evolution of the Universe, a possibility considered by Dirac [1]. In combination with wavelength calibration difficulties, problems with the methodology might be the cause when this is applied towards the analysis of the Fe II absorption complex and could lead to different sensitivity contributions to variations of α from the fact that different transitions were found in molecules and atoms from QSO spectra [21,22,23,24,25,26,27] Following on this interesting topic, a new method has been developed and achieved to search for α-variation over cosmological space and time [28]. This technique allowed us to estimate values at the first stages of the evolution of the universe through the exploration of both doublet and multiplet lines visible in QSO spectra This method has the benefit of being more obvious and less affected by the systematic error. Combining high precision measurements of the light from distant quasars together with laboratory wavelengths of the measured lines, this result is significantly tighter than the previously derived results using the MM method [34]
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