Beyond $Λ$CDM: fundamental constants as cosmological observables

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Milaković, Dinko, Webb, John K.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Milaković, Dinko
Webb, John K.
author_facet Milaković, Dinko
Webb, John K.
contents Recent cosmological tensions pose difficulties for $Λ$CDM. Forthcoming facilities will be able to check whether these tensions result from systematic effects or indeed with the $Λ$CDM model itself. However, these new data will primarily probe gravitational interactions and provide only limited information about non-gravitational interactions. Distinguishing between competing models that make similar predictions yet rely on fundamentally different principles, therefore requires suitably diverse physical tests. Observational constraints on spacetime variations of fundamental constants fill this need. The fine-structure constant, $α= e^2/\hbar c$, can be measured using absorption systems towards bright quasars using the Many Multiplet method, and using atomic doublets from line emitting gas in galaxies. A spectroscopic facility such as the WST could produce more than 100,000 new measurements of $α$ from quasars together with a million measurements from galaxies. When combined with other probes, such a large and homogeneous dataset of $α$ measurements would provide unprecedented constraints on physics beyond $Λ$CDM.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_10987
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Beyond $Λ$CDM: fundamental constants as cosmological observables
Milaković, Dinko
Webb, John K.
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Recent cosmological tensions pose difficulties for $Λ$CDM. Forthcoming facilities will be able to check whether these tensions result from systematic effects or indeed with the $Λ$CDM model itself. However, these new data will primarily probe gravitational interactions and provide only limited information about non-gravitational interactions. Distinguishing between competing models that make similar predictions yet rely on fundamentally different principles, therefore requires suitably diverse physical tests. Observational constraints on spacetime variations of fundamental constants fill this need. The fine-structure constant, $α= e^2/\hbar c$, can be measured using absorption systems towards bright quasars using the Many Multiplet method, and using atomic doublets from line emitting gas in galaxies. A spectroscopic facility such as the WST could produce more than 100,000 new measurements of $α$ from quasars together with a million measurements from galaxies. When combined with other probes, such a large and homogeneous dataset of $α$ measurements would provide unprecedented constraints on physics beyond $Λ$CDM.
title Beyond $Λ$CDM: fundamental constants as cosmological observables
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.10987