Lecture Notes in Physics, 2004, Volume 648/2004, 167-185, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-40991-5_11

Oklo Constraint on the Time-Variabilityof the Fine-Structure Constant

Yasunori Fujii

View Related Documents

Abstract

The Oklo phenomenon, natural fission reactors which had taken place in Gabon about 2 billion years ago, provides one of the most stringent constraints on the possible time-variability of the fine-structure constant agr. We first review briefly what it is and how reliable it is in constraining agr. We then compare the result with a more recent result on the nonzero change of agr obtained from the observation of the QSO absorption lines. We suggest a possible way to make these results consistent with each other in terms of the behavior of a scalar field which is expected to be responsible for the acceleration of the universe.

Fulltext Preview

Image of the first page of the fulltext document