# Time-Varying Fine-Structure Constant Requires Cosmological Constant

## Abstract

Webb et al. presented preliminary evidence for a time-varying fine-structure constant. We show Teller’s formula for this variation to be ruled out within the Einstein-de Sitter universe, however, it is compatible with cosmologies which require a large cosmological constant.

The possibility of time-varying physical constants was suggested by Dirac  and Milne . This suggestion has been widely discussed  for a number of motivations:

(i) The assumption of physical quantities being constant in space and time is ad hoc. It has to be either confirmed or rejected by observation .

(ii) The possibility of life as we know it depends on the values of a few basic physical constants and appears to be sensitive to their numerical values. This argument appeals to the anthropic principle .

(iii) The numerical values of the basic dimensionless constants, e. g. the fine-structure constant, are not yet explained. If they depend on other constants and the age of the universe and are therefore time-varying, then the actual number of the independent free parameters of the standard theory of particle physics would be reduced.

Products and quotients of physical constants have been shown to be of fundamental importance for new physical phenomena:

(i) The unit of flux quantization in superconductors is $`\varphi =h/(2e)`$, where $`h`$ denotes the Planck constant and $`e`$ the unit electric charge . This finding was the first experimental proof of the famous BCS-theory . Furthermore, the flux quantization in units of $`\varphi `$ is of central importance for the Josephson junctions .

(ii) The characteristic magnetic flux in the Aharonov-Bohm effect  is quantized in units of $`\varphi =h/e`$.

(iii) The unit conductance in the integer quantum Hall effect  is $`\widehat{\sigma }=e^2/h`$. In the fractional quantum Hall effect  the conductance is $`\sigma =pe^2/h`$, where $`p`$ is a rational number.

(iv) The Chandrasekhar limit mass  of white dwarf stars is

$$M_c=\frac{3\sqrt{\pi }}{2\mu ^2M_p^2}\left(\frac{\mathrm{}c}{G}\right)^{3/2},$$
(1)   
where $`\mathrm{}=h/(2\pi )`$, $`c`$ is the speed of light, $`G`$ is Newton’s gravitational constant, $`M_p`$ is the proton rest mass, and $`\mu `$ is the number ratio of nucleons and electrons.

In order to find further fundamental and important physical phenomena one is attempted to try to multiply or divide the Planck units ,

$`l_p`$ $`=`$ $`(G\mathrm{}/c^3)^{1/2}`$ (2)   
$`t_p`$ $`=`$ $`(G\mathrm{}/c^5)^{1/2}`$ (3)   
$`m_p`$ $`=`$ $`(\mathrm{}c/G)^{1/2},`$ (4)   
with the Einstein constant ,

$$\kappa =8\pi G/c^4,$$
(5)   
the “natural units” $`\mathrm{}`$ and $`c`$, and the present value $`H_0`$ of the Hubble parameter . By just doing this, Teller  found the remarkable relation (in modern notation),

$$\kappa m_pH_0c=\kappa \mathrm{}H_0/l_p=8\pi t_pH_0=\text{exp}(1/\alpha _0),$$
(6)   
where

$$\alpha _0=\frac{e^2}{4\pi \epsilon _0\mathrm{}c}$$
(7)   
is the fine-structure constant. Here and in the following the subscript “0” refers to the present value of the respective parameter.

From Teller’s equation one can derive the change rate

$$\frac{\dot{\alpha }_z}{\alpha _z}=\alpha _z\frac{\dot{H}_z}{H_z},$$
(8)   
where the subscript “$`z`$” denotes the value of the respective parameter at cosmological redshift $`z`$ and the dot denotes the derivative with time. This rate can be determined experimentally. By examining quasar absorption lines in the redshift region $`0.5<z<1.6`$, Webb et al.  found preliminary evidence for a time-varying fine-structure constant,

$$\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }\alpha }{\alpha }=(1.09\pm 0.36)\times 10^5,$$
(9)   
implying

$$\frac{\dot{\alpha }_z}{\alpha _z}=1\times 10^5H_z.$$
(10)   
If the preliminary finding by Webb et al. will not be confirmed by future investigations, then Eq. 10 should be considered as an upper limit for the change rate of the fine-structure constant.

It is our aim to examine which cosmologies are compatible with both Teller’s equation and (the upper limit of) the change rate of the fine-structure constant determined by Webb et al.

Compatibility is satisfied for cosmologies like the de Sitter universe  and the steady state cosmology , where the Hubble parameter is constant in time. Unfortunately, these models have already been ruled out as viable cosmologies, because they contradict a number of other cosmological findings .

According to general agreement the expansion of the universe is explained by the Friedmann-Lemaître equation ,

$$H^2=\frac{8\pi G\varrho }{3}\frac{kc^2}{R^2}+\frac{\lambda c^2}{3}.$$
(11)   
The curvature radius $`R`$ and the mean mass density $`\varrho `$ scale with the redshift as,

$`R`$ $`=`$ $`R_0/(1+z)`$ (12)   
$`\varrho `$ $`=`$ $`\varrho _0(1+z)^3.`$ (13)   
By defining the present values of the mass parameter

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_0=\frac{8\pi G\varrho _0}{3H_0^2}$$
(14)   
and the cosmological parameter

$$\lambda _0=\frac{\lambda c^2}{3H_0^2},$$
(15)   
the Friedmann-Lemaître equation can be written as ,

$$\left(\frac{H_z}{H_0}\right)^2=\mathrm{\Omega }_0(1+z)^3(\mathrm{\Omega }_0+\lambda _01)(1+z)^2+\lambda _0.$$
(16)   
The Einstein-de Sitter universe , where $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0=1`$ and $`\lambda _0=0`$, is a special case of the Friedmann-Lemaître universe. In this cosmology, Eq. 16 is reduced to

$$\left(\frac{H_z}{H_0}\right)^2=(1+z)^3.$$
(17)   
By using this equation Dyson  derived from Teller’s equation the formula

$$\alpha _z=\frac{\alpha _0}{1\frac{3}{2}\alpha _0\text{ln}(1+z)},$$
(18)   
which somewhat resembles expressions known from running coupling constants in quantum field theory. Dyson’s equation (18) yields the rate

$$\frac{\dot{\alpha }_z}{\alpha _z}=\frac{3}{2}\alpha _zH_z$$
(19)   
and is, unfortunately, ruled out by the experimental result of Webb et al. 

By regarding Eq. 16 we find Teller’s equation to be compatible with the observation by Webb et al. if the present value $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0`$ of the mass parameter is extremely small and the cosmological parameter $`\lambda _0`$ slightly above unity.

The lower bound on $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0`$ is given by the baryonic matter content of the universe. The visible baryonic matter of the universe was determined to be 

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_0=0.003h^1,$$
(20)   
where $`h=H_0/(100\text{km/(s Mpc)})`$. (The parameter $`h`$ was introduced into cosmology for ease of notation; it should not be confused with the Planck constant.) This extremely small value of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0`$ is compatible with other determinations of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0`$ derived from examinations of the dynamics of clusters of galaxies if majority of their mass consists of a network of cosmic strings. This hypothetical network contributes to the local mass but do not influence the expansion of the universe . Consequently, the mass contribution of the cosmic string network does not appear in the Friedmann-Lemaître equation. Furthermore, determinations of $`\mathrm{\Omega }_0`$ from hot big bang nucleosynthesis are model-dependent (especially the degree of inhomogeneities in the early universe is not well understood), for a discussion see Refs.  and .

If the observation by Webb et al. will be confirmed and Teller’s equation is correct, then we can predict the following present values of cosmological parameters:

$`H_0`$ $`=`$ $`69.7\text{km/(s Mpc)}`$ (21)   
$`\mathrm{\Omega }_0`$ $`=`$ $`0.004`$ (22)   
$`\lambda _0`$ $`=`$ $`1.004.`$ (23)   
This value of $`H_0`$ is compatible with majority of its recent determinations, e. g. Pierce et al.  found $`H_0=(87\pm 7)\text{km/(s Mpc)}`$, Freedman et al.  reported $`H_0=(80\pm 17)\text{km/(s Mpc)}`$, and Tanvir et al.  measured $`H_0=(69\pm 8)\text{km/(s Mpc)}`$. Harris et al.  found $`H_0=(77\pm 8)\text{km/(s Mpc)}`$ and Madore et al.  reported $`H_0=(73\pm 21)\text{km/(s Mpc)}`$.

Interestingly, the cosmological parameters of the Bonn-Potsdam model  resemble those suggested above. Recently, van de Bruck  has examined the effects of the hypothetical cosmic string network on the cosmological velocity field within the framework of this model and has shown them to be compatible with cosmological observations.

The possible time-variation of the fine-structure constant implies the variation of at least one of the constants $`c`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`\epsilon _0`$, and $`e`$. A time-varying speed of light, for example, would imply a change in the radiation losses of accelerated charges, which would be of importance especially in the very early universe .

In practice, time-variations of quantities with nonzero dimension can be measured and defined only relative to other quantities which have the same dimension. We will suggest a convention where the most fundamental constants are defined as being constant in time and can serve as a reference for the possible time-variation of other quantities.

We suggest to consider the “natural units” $`c`$, $`\mathrm{}`$, $`k_B`$, and $`\epsilon _0`$ as fundamental and constant in time. This is because according to relativity, lengths are measured as time intervals multiplied with the speed of light. Even our unit length, the meter, is defined as the length which the speed of light covers in 1/299 792 458 seconds. Furthermore, quantum phenomena are described either by the particle picture or the wave picture, respectively. The “conversion factor” of some of the quantities of this duality is $`\mathrm{}`$. Finally, temperature is a macroscopic quantity and can be defined by the energy of microscopic objects divided by the Boltzmann constant $`k_B`$.

According to concepts of quantum gravity, the Planck units, especially the Planck time, are most fundamental. Hence, we suggest to measure all quantities in units of the Planck units (and multiples thereof), $`t_p`$, $`l_p=ct_p`$, $`m_p=\mathrm{}/(cl_p)`$, $`T_p=m_pc^2/k_B`$, and $`I_p=(\epsilon _0\mathrm{}c)^{1/2}/t_p`$. Under these conventions, any time-variation of the fine-structure constant implies the variation of the unit electric charge $`e`$.