Varying constants, gravitation and cosmology

DOI10.12942/LRR-2011-2zbMATH Open1215.83012arXiv1009.5514OpenAlexW3100355343WikidataQ30364000 ScholiaQ30364000MaRDI QIDQ533844FDOQ533844

Authors: Jean-Philippe Uzan 

Publication date: 9 May 2011

Published in: Living Reviews in Relativity (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Fundamental constants are a cornerstone of our physical laws. Any constant varying in space and/or time would reflect the existence of an almost massless field that couples to matter. This will induce a violation of the universality of free fall. It is thus of utmost importance for our understanding of gravity and of the domain of validity of general relativity to test for their constancy. We thus detail the relations between the constants, the tests of the local position invariance and of the universality of free fall. We then review the main experimental and observational constraints that have been obtained from atomic clocks, the Oklo phenomenon, Solar system observations, meteorites dating, quasar absorption spectra, stellar physics, pulsar timing, the cosmic microwave background and big bang nucleosynthesis. At each step we describe the basics of each system, its dependence with respect to the constants, the known systematic effects and the most recent constraints that have been obtained. We then describe the main theoretical frameworks in which the low-energy constants may actually be varying and we focus on the unification mechanisms and the relations between the variation of different constants. To finish, we discuss the more speculative possibility of understanding their numerical values and the apparent fine-tuning that they confront us with.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1009.5514

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Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Relativistic gravitational theories other than Einstein's, including asymmetric field theories (83D05) Relativistic cosmology (83F05) Radiative transfer in astronomy and astrophysics (85A25) Astrophysical cosmology (85A40) Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to relativity and gravitational theory (83-02) Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to astronomy and astrophysics (85-02)

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