Puzzle of the constancy of fundamental constants

Varshalovich, D. A.; Potekhin, A. Y.; Ivanchik, A. V.

Puzzle of the constancy of fundamental constants

Authors

Varshalovich, D. A.

Potekhin, A. Y.

Ivanchik, A. V.

Description

We discuss experiments and observations aimed at testing the possible space-time variability of fundamental physical constants, predicted by the modern theory. Specifically, we consider two of the dimensionless physical parameters which are important for atomic and molecular physics: the fine-structure constant and the electron-to-proton mass ratio. We review the current status of such experiments and critically analyze recent claims of a detection of the variability of the fine-structure constant on the cosmological time scale. We stress that such a detection remains to be checked by future experiments and observations. The tightest of the firmly established upper limits read that the considered constants could not vary by more than 0.015% on the scale of 10 Gigayears.
6 pages, plain LaTeX. Accepted for publication in Comments on Atomic and Molecular Physics