Constraining Variationsin the Fine-Structure Constant, Quark Massesand the Strong Interaction

Murphy, Michael T.; Flambaum, Victor V.; Webb, John K.; Dzuba, Vladimir V.; Prochaska, Jason X.; Wolfe, Arthur M.

doi:10.1007/978-3-540-40991-5_9

Constraining Variationsin the Fine-Structure Constant, Quark Massesand the Strong Interaction

We present evidence for variations in the fine-structure constant from Keck/HIRES spectra of 143 quasar absorption systems over the redshift range 0.2 1.8). Our most robust estimate is a weighted mean Δα/α = (-0.57 ′ 0.11) x 10 - 5 . We respond to recent criticisms of the many-multiplet method us…