Reconstructing the evolution of dark energy with variations of fundamental parameters

TL;DR

This paper explores how variations in fundamental constants, linked to a scalar field, can reveal the nature of dark energy, using current and future observational constraints on constants like the fine structure constant.

Contribution

It introduces a method to infer dark energy properties from cosmological variations of fundamental parameters assuming a scalar field governs both.

Findings

Current observational constraints limit variations of fundamental constants.

Future spectrographs could significantly improve constraints on dark energy models.

The approach links fundamental physics with cosmological observations.

Abstract

Under the assumption that the variations of parameters of nature and the current acceleration of the universe are related and governed by the evolution of a single scalar field, we show how information can be obtained on the nature of dark energy from observational detection of (or constraints on) cosmological variations of the fine structure constant and the proton-to-electron mass ratio. We also comment on the current observational status, and on the prospects for improvements with future spectrographs such as ESPRESSO and CODEX.