CONSTRAINTS ON SPATIAL VARIATIONS IN THE FINE-STRUCTURE CONSTANT FROM PLANCK

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/798/1/18· OSTI ID:22364757

O'Bryan, Jon; Smidt, Joseph; De Bernardis, Francesco; Cooray, Asantha ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 (United States)

We use the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy data from Planck to constrain the spatial fluctuations of the fine-structure constant α at a redshift of 1100. We use a quadratic estimator to measure the four-point correlation function of the CMB temperature anisotropies and extract the angular power spectrum fine-structure constant spatial variations projected along the line of sight at the last scattering surface. At tens of degree angular scales and above, we constrain the fractional rms fluctuations of the fine-structure constant to be (δα/α){sub rms} < 3.4 × 10{sup –3} at the 68% confidence level. We find no evidence for a spatially varying α at a redshift of 10{sup 3}.

• OSTI ID: 22364757
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 798, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ANISOTROPY
BACKGROUND RADIATION
CORRELATION FUNCTIONS
FINE STRUCTURE
FLUCTUATIONS
INFLATIONARY UNIVERSE
LIMITING VALUES
RED SHIFT
RELICT RADIATION
SURFACES