Variation of the fine structure constant and the electron mass at early Universe

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the fine structure constant and electron mass may have varied over cosmic time, analyzing their effects on recombination physics and cosmological observations to set bounds on their possible variations.

Contribution

It provides new limits on the variation of fundamental constants using cosmological data and evaluates a phenomenological model linking electron mass variation to scalar fields.

Findings

Limits on the variation of $eta$ and $eta_m$ at recombination.

A phenomenological relationship between $ riangle eta$ and $ riangle eta_m$.

The Barrow-Magueijo model is ruled out based on bounds from experiments.

Abstract

In this thesis, we focus on the study of the variation of the electron mass $m_e$, and the fine structure constant $\alpha$, at different cosmic times. We analyze the details of the recombination physics, including helium recombination, in order to find the dependences of the physical quantities on the fundamental constants. Using up-to-date CMB data, and the final 2dFGRS power spectrum, we set limits to the possible variation of the constants at recombination. We analyze the variation of $\alpha$ and $m_e$ independently, and the case in which both variations are allowed, fitting also a set of cosmological parameters. We find a fenomenological relationship between the variation of $\alpha$ and the variation of $m_e$, between decoupling and present time. We analyze the Barrow-Magueijo fenomenological model, which propose a variation in the electron mass induced by changes in a space-time scalar field. We present improved solutions and we estimate the model parameters using bounds on the variation of the electron mass at different cosmic times. On the other hand, from results of experiments that test the Weak Equivalence Principle, we find a limit for the model's parameter, that comes from the variation of the electron mass induced by spatial variations of the scalar field. By comparing both limits, we arrive at the conclusion that the model should be ruled-out. Lastly, we reanalyze the effects of the variation of $\alpha$ or $m_e$ upon planetary radii. We explain why the variation of the electron mass does not induce observable changes on the radii. We present a local and independent bound on the variation of $\alpha$, obtained from very general statements. (TEXT IN SPANISH)