General Dynamics of Varying-Alpha Universes

TL;DR

This paper explores the detailed cosmological evolution of varying-alpha theories with arbitrary couplings and potentials, extending previous models by considering their full impact on universe expansion and matter evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a generalized varying-alpha model with arbitrary coupling and potential, analyzing its full dynamics without prior simplifications, and finds new asymptotic solutions.

Findings

Identified all asymptotic behaviors of the model.

Derived new solutions for varying-alpha cosmologies.

Analyzed effects of different potentials and couplings on universe evolution.

Abstract

We introduce and study extensions of the varying alpha theory of Bekenstein-Sandvik-Barrow-Magueijo to allow for an arbitrary coupling function and self-interaction potential term in the theory. We study the full evolution equations without assuming that variations in alpha have a negligible effect on the expansion scale factor and the matter density evolution, as was assumed in earlier studies. The background FRW cosmology of this model in the cases of zero and non-zero spatial curvature is studied in detail, using dynamical systems techniques, for a wide class of potentials and coupling functions. All the asymptotic behaviours are found, together with some new solutions. We study the cases where the electromagnetic parameter, zeta, is positive and negative, corresponding to magnetic and electrostatic energy domination in the non-relativistic matter. In particular, we investigate the cases where the scalar field driving alpha variations has exponential and power-law self-interaction potentials and the behaviour of theories where the coupling constant between matter and alpha variations is no longer a constant.