Constraining Fundamental Constants with Fast Radio Bursts: Unveiling the Role of Energy Scale

TL;DR

This study uses fast radio bursts to refine measurements of fundamental constants, achieving tighter constraints and highlighting the importance of energy scale considerations in such measurements.

Contribution

It provides one of the most stringent constraints on the fine-structure constant and proton-to-electron mass ratio using FRBs, emphasizing the role of energy scale in fundamental parameter estimation.

Findings

Constraints on $\alpha$ and $\mu$ improved by nearly an order of magnitude.

Selected 50 localized FRBs for analysis.

Constraints depend on the cosmological model used.

Abstract

Understanding physical mechanisms relies on the accurate determination of fundamental constants, although inherent limitations in experimental techniques introduce uncertainties into these measurements. This paper explores the uncertainties associated with measuring the fine-structure constant ($\alpha$) and the proton-to-electron mass ratio ($\mu$) using observed fast radio bursts (FRBs). We select 50 localized FRBs to quantify the effects of varying this fundamental coupling on the relation between dispersion measure and redshift. By leveraging independent measurements of dispersion measures and redshifts of these FRBs, we constrain the uncertainties in $\alpha$ and $\mu$ approximately to $\Delta\alpha/\alpha=1.99\times 10^{-5}$ and $\Delta\mu/\mu=-1.00\times 10^{-5}$ within the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmological framework. Remarkably, these constraints improve nearly an order-of-magnitude when considering a dynamical dark energy model. This investigation not only yields one of the most stringent constraints on $\alpha$ and $\mu$ to date but also emphasizes the criticality of accounting for the energy scale of the system when formulating constraints on fundamental parameters.