New constraints on varying $\alpha$

We use the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy data from Planck to constrain the spatial fluctuations of the fine-structure constant \alpha. Through Thompson scattering of CMB photons, spatial anisotropies of \alpha lead to higher-order correlations in the CMB anisotropies. We use a quadratic estimator based on the four-point correlation function of the CMB temperature anisotropy to extract the angular power spectrum of the spatial variation of the fine-structure con...

The bound on the time variation of the fine structure constant ($\alpha$) driven by the dynamics of quintessence scalar field which is coupled to electromagnetism is discussed using phenomenological quintessential models constrained by SNIa and CMB observations. We find that those models allowing early quintessence give the largest variation $\Delta\alpha$ at the decoupling epoch. Furthermore, the fifth force experiments imply that $\Delta\alpha/\alpha$ is less than about 0.1...

I describe briefly the Cosmic Microwave Background (hereafter CMB) physics which explains why high accuracy observations of its spatial structure are a unique observational tool both for the determination of the global cosmological parameters and to constrain observationally the physics of the early universe. I also briefly survey the many experiments which have measured the anisotropies of the CMB and led to crucial advances in observational Cosmology. The somewhat frantic s...

Astrophysical tests of the stability of dimensionless fundamental couplings, such as the fine-structure constant $\alpha$, are an area of much increased recent activity, following some indications of possible spacetime variations at the few parts per million level. Here we obtain updated constraints on the Bekenstein-Sandvik-Barrow-Magueijo model, which is arguably the simplest model allowing for $\alpha$ variations. Recent accurate spectroscopic measurements allow us to impr...

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...

We use astrophysical and atomic clock tests of the stability of the fine-structure constant $\alpha$, together with Type Ia supernova and Hubble parameter data, to constrain the simplest class of dynamical dark energy models where the same degree of freedom is assumed to provide both the dark energy and (through a dimensionless coupling, $\zeta$, to the electromagnetic sector) the $\alpha$ variation. We show how current data tightly constrains a combination of $\zeta$ and the...

The last years have been an exciting period for the field of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) research. With recent CMB balloon-borne and ground-based experiments we are entering a new era of 'precision' cosmology that enables us to use the CMB anisotropy measurements to constrain the cosmological parameters and test new theoretical scenarios.

We determine the behaviour of a time-varying fine structure 'constant' $\alpha (t)$ during the early and late phases of universes dominated by the kinetic energy of changing $\alpha (t)$, radiation, dust, curvature, and lambda, respectively. We show that after leaving an initial vacuum-dominated phase during which $\alpha$ increases, $\alpha$ remains constant in universes like our own during the radiation era, and then increases slowly, proportional to a logarithm of cosmic t...

We confront predictions of inflationary scenarios with the WMAP data, in combination with complementary small-scale CMB measurements and large-scale structure data. The WMAP detection of a large-angle anti-correlation in the temperature--polarization cross-power spectrum is the signature of adiabatic superhorizon fluctuations at the time of decoupling. The WMAP data are described by pure adiabatic fluctuations: we place an upper limit on a correlated CDM isocurvature componen...

A simple cosmological model with only six parameters (matter density, Omega_m h^2, baryon density, Omega_b h^2, Hubble Constant, H_0, amplitude of fluctuations, sigma_8, optical depth, tau, and a slope for the scalar perturbation spectrum, n_s) fits not only the three year WMAP temperature and polarization data, but also small scale CMB data, light element abundances, large-scale structure observations, and the supernova luminosity/distance relationship. Using WMAP data only,...