Impact of instrumental systematic errors on fine-structure constant measurements with quasar spectra
Open accessAbstract
We present a new ‘supercalibration’ technique for measuring systematic distortions in the wavelength scales of high-resolution spectrographs. By comparing spectra of ‘solar twin’ stars or asteroids with a reference laboratory solar spectrum, distortions in the standard thorium–argon calibration can be tracked with ∼10 m s−1 precision over the entire optical wavelength range on scales of both echelle orders (∼50–100 Å) and entire spectrographs arms (∼1000–3000 Å). Using archival spectra from the past 20 yr, we have probed the supercalibration history of the Very Large Telescope-Ultraviolet and Visible Echelle Spectrograph (VLT-UVES) and Keck-High Resolution Echelle Spectrograph (HIRES) spectrographs. We find that systematic errors in their wavelength scales are ubiquitous and substantial, with long-range distortions varying between typically ±200 m s−1 per 1000 Å. We apply a simple model of these distortions to simulated spectra that characterize the large UVES and HIRES quasar samples which previously indicated possible evidence for cosmological variations in the fine-structure constant, α. The spurious deviations in α produced by the model closely match important aspects of the VLT-UVES quasar results at all redshifts and partially explain the HIRES results, though not self-consistently at all redshifts. That is, the apparent ubiquity, size and general characteristics of the distortions are capable of significantly weakening the evidence for variations in α from quasar absorption lines.
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VLT/UVES and Keck/HIRES have, for this particular science case, an irreducible systematic of about 3 parts per million (Whitmore and Murphy 2015).
“one shall keep in mind when comparing them that VLT/UVES and Keck/HIRES have, for this particular science case, an irreducible systematic of about 3 parts per million (Whitmore and Murphy 2015).”
From Fundamental constants: from measurement to the universe, a window on gravitation and cosmology (2025) · cites this paper as Whitmore and Murphy 2015
It was concluded that the ThAr lamp calibration of the quasar wavelength scale was distorted with respect to that established from the Solar spectrum via reflection from asteroids, causing spurious velocity shifts and observed deviations in the determination of α_EM (Whitmore and Murphy 2015).
“Murphy 2015).”
From Fundamental constants: from measurement to the universe, a window on gravitation and cosmology (2025) · cites this paper as Whitmore and Murphy 2015
Concerns exist that some systematics in the archival data have not been fully modeled or corrected so far (Whitmore and Murphy 2015; Dumont and Webb 2017; Webb et al. 2025).
“Note however that concerns do exist concerning the existence of some systematics in the data that have not been fully modeled or corrected so far (Whitmore and Murphy 2015;Dumont and Webb 2017;Webb et al. 2025).”
From Fundamental constants: from measurement to the universe, a window on gravitation and cosmology (2025) · cites this paper as Whitmore and Murphy 2015
Keck/HIRES and VLT/UVES are now known to suffer from significant intra-order and long-range distortions (Whitmore and Murphy 2015).
“Moreover, these two spectrographs are now known to suffer from significant intra-order and longrange distortions (Whitmore and Murphy 2015).”
From Fundamental constants: from measurement to the universe, a window on gravitation and cosmology (2025) · cites this paper as Whitmore and Murphy 2015
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Stringent Constraints on Fundamental Constant Evolution Using Conjugate 18 cm Satellite OH Lines
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- Authors
- Whitmore, J. B., & Murphy, M. T.
- Affiliations
- Swinburne University of Technology (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Whitmore, J. B.
- Venue
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2014-12-18
- Volume
- 447
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 446-462
- ISSN
- 0035-8711 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2966
- OpenAlex
- W2023087932
- Cited by
- 99
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 8
- FWCI
- 16.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Swinburne figshare (Swinburne University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Swinburne figshare (Swinburne University of Technology)
- Funders
- Australian Research Council (DP110100866)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Instrumentation › Astronomy and Astrophysical Research
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Keywords
- fine-structure constant variation, quasar absorption lines, HiRes, quasar spectra
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