Fundamental Cosmology from Precision Spectroscopy: I. Varying Couplings

TL;DR

This paper discusses how upcoming high-resolution spectrographs can test the stability of fundamental physical constants, potentially revealing new physics and advancing our understanding of cosmology.

Contribution

It introduces a method using Principal Component Analysis with existing data to forecast the impact of future spectrographs on fundamental cosmology.

Findings

ELT-HIRES can significantly improve constraints on fundamental couplings.

A 20-30 night observing program on ELT-HIRES will be highly impactful.

Future spectrographs will enable new precision tests of cosmological models.

Abstract

The observational evidence for the acceleration of the universe demonstrates that canonical theories of cosmology and particle physics are incomplete, if not incorrect, and that new physics is out there, waiting to be discovered. Forthcoming high-resolution ultra-stable spectrographs will play a crucial role in this quest for new physics, by enabling a new generation of precision consistency tests. Here we focus on astrophysical tests of the stability of nature's fundamental couplings, and by using Principal Component Analysis techniques further calibrated by existing VLT data we discuss how the improvements that can be expected with ESPRESSO and ELT-HIRES will impact on fundamental cosmology. In particular we show that a 20 to 30 night program on ELT-HIRES will allow it to play a leading role in fundamental cosmology.