TY - JOUR
T1 - Implications of gauge unification for time variation of the fine structure constant
AU - Langacker, Paul
AU - Segrè, Gino
AU - Strassler, Matthew J.
N1 - Funding Information:
All three authors wish to express their gratitude to the Department of Energy for support through grant DOE-EY-76-02-3071. One of us (P.L.) was also supported by the W.M. Keck Foundation as a Keck Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and by the Monell Foundation. P.L. thanks J. Bahcall, F. Dyson and N. Seiberg, and M.J.S. thanks J. Erler, A. Naqvi and G. Shiu, for useful discussions.
PY - 2002/2/28
Y1 - 2002/2/28
N2 - Unification of the gauge couplings would imply that time variations of the fine structure constant are accompanied by calculable and very significant time variations in the QCD scale parameter ΛQCD. Since ΛQCD is the dominant factor in setting the hadron masses, estimates made by simple variations of the fine structure constant may not provide meaningful limits. There may also be related variations in Yukawa couplings and the electroweak scale. Implications for the 21 cm hyperfine transition, big bang nucleosynthesis, and the triple alpha process are discussed. We find that the first of these already provides strong constraints on the underlying theory. It is emphasized more generally that time (and space) variations of fundamental couplings and their correlations may be a significant probe of ultra-high-energy physics.
AB - Unification of the gauge couplings would imply that time variations of the fine structure constant are accompanied by calculable and very significant time variations in the QCD scale parameter ΛQCD. Since ΛQCD is the dominant factor in setting the hadron masses, estimates made by simple variations of the fine structure constant may not provide meaningful limits. There may also be related variations in Yukawa couplings and the electroweak scale. Implications for the 21 cm hyperfine transition, big bang nucleosynthesis, and the triple alpha process are discussed. We find that the first of these already provides strong constraints on the underlying theory. It is emphasized more generally that time (and space) variations of fundamental couplings and their correlations may be a significant probe of ultra-high-energy physics.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0370-2693(02)01189-9
DO - 10.1016/S0370-2693(02)01189-9
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0001676373
SN - 0370-2693
VL - 528
SP - 121
EP - 128
JO - Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
JF - Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
IS - 1-2
ER -