A new approach for testing variations of fundamental constants over cosmic epochs using FIR fine-structure lines

Abstract

Aims. To obtain limits on the variation of the fine-structure constant alpha and the electron-to-proton mass ratio mu over different cosmological epochs. Methods. A new approach based on the comparison of redshifts of far infrared (FIR) fine-structure lines and low-lying rotational transitions in CO is proposed which is in principle more sensitive by a factor of 10 compared to QSO metal absorption lines. Results. Estimations of the quotient F = alpha^2/mu obtained for two distant quasars J1148+5251 (z = 6.42) and BR1202-0725 (z = 4.69) provide Delta F/F = (0.1+/-1.0)10^{-4} and (1.4+/-1.5)10^{-4}, respectively. The obtained limits are consistent with no variation of physical constants at the level of 0.01% over a period of 13 Gyr. Conclusions. Upcoming observations of quasars and distant galaxies in FIR fine-structure lines of different species and in CO low rotational lines at the SOFIA, HSO, and ALMA are expected to improve the current limit by, at least, an order of magnitude.

5 pages, to appear in A&A main journal

References in corpus (45)

• Control of star formation by supersonic turbulence
• A Survey of z>5.7 Quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II: Discovery of Three Additional Quasars at z>6
• Far Infrared and Submillimeter Emission from Galactic and Extragalactic Photo-Dissociation Regions
• The Submillimeter Array
• Far Infrared Spectroscopy of Normal Galaxies: Physical Conditions in the Interstellar Medium
• The Structure of the Local Interstellar Medium V: Electron Densities
• Resolved Molecular Gas in a Quasar Host Galaxy at Redshift z=6.42
• First detection of [CII]158um at high redshift: vigorous star formation in the early universe
• Molecular gas and dust around a radio-quiet quasar at redshift 4.7
• The CI lines as tracers of molecular gas, and their prospects at high redshifts
• High-excitation CO in a quasar host galaxy at z=6.42
• Gas and Dust in the Cloverleaf Quasar at Redshift 2.5
• Implications of Gauge Unification for Time Variation of the Fine Structure Constant
• Enhanced sensitivity to time-variation of m_p/m_e in the inversion spectrum of ammonia
• Local and Global Variations of The Fine Structure Constant
• Natural Nuclear Reactor Oklo and Variation of Fundamental Constants Part 1: Computation of Neutronics of Fresh Core
• Multiple CO Transitions, CI, and HCN from the Cloverleaf Quasar
• Constraints on changes in fundamental constants from a cosmologically distant OH absorber/emitter
• Improved constraints on possible variation of physical constants from H I 21cm and molecular QSO absorption lines
• Atomic carbon at redshift ~2.5
• On the variation of the fine-structure constant: Very high resolution spectrum of QSO HE 0515-4414
• A Detection of [CII] line emission in the z=4.7 QSO BR1202-0725
• Does the fine-structure constant vary with cosmological epoch?
• [CII] at 158 mic as a star formation tracer in late-type galaxies
• New Limits on the Possible Variation of Physical Constants
• Primordial nucleosynthesis as a probe of fundamental physics parameters
• Time-variability of alpha from realistic models of Oklo reactors
• Molecular gas in QSO host galaxies at z>5
• A new measure of Delta alpha/alpha at redshift z = 1.84 from very high resolution spectra of Q1101-264
• The $\alpha$-dependence of transition frequencies for ions Si II, Cr II, Fe II, Ni II, and Zn II
• Astronomical Constraints on the Cosmic Evolution of the Fine Structure Constant and Possible Quantum Dimensions
• Variation of fundamental constants: theory and observations
• Detection of $1.6\times 10^{10}$ M${}_{\odot }$ of molecular gas in the host galaxy of the $z=5.77$ SDSS quasar J0927+2001
• Probing variations in fundamental constants with radio and optical quasar absorption-line observations
• Detecting z > 10 objects through carbon, nitrogen and oxygen emission lines
• The H+ Region Contribution to [C II] 158 Micron Emission
• Atomic Carbon in APM 08279+5255 at z=3.91
• CMB constraints on the fine structure constant
• Transition frequency shifts with fine structure constant variation for Fe II: Breit and core-valence correlation correction
• Atomic carbon in PSS 2322+1944, a quasar at redshift 4.12
• Millimetre/submillimetre-wave emission line searches for high-redshift galaxies
• Detectability of [CII] 158 micron emission from high-redshift galaxies: predictions for ALMA and SPICA
• Physical Characteristics of a Dark Cloud in an Early Stage of Star Formation toward NGC 7538: an Outer Galaxy Infrared Dark Cloud?
• Time variation of the fine structure constant in the early universe and the Bekenstein model
• A possible new interpretation of the results of $\Delta \alpha /\alpha$ from QSO absorption lines

Cited by in corpus (24)

• Search for New Physics with Atoms and Molecules
• Varying constants, Gravitation and Cosmology
• The anatomy of an extreme starburst within 1.3Gyr of the Big Bang revealed by ALMA
• Constraining fundamental constant evolution with HI and OH lines
• Searching for chameleon-like scalar fields with the ammonia method
• Search for a drifting proton--electron mass ratio from H${}_2$
• Microwave and submillimeter molecular transitions and their dependence on fundamental constants
• $\Lambda$-doublet spectra of diatomic radicals and their dependence on fundamental constants
• An upper limit to the variation in the fundamental constants at redshift z = 5.2
• On the Variations of Fundamental Constants and AGN feedback in the QSO host galaxy RXJ0911.4+0551 at z=2.79
• Variations in the Fundamental constants in the QSO Host J1148+5251 at z = 6.4 and the BR1202-0725 System at z = 4.7
• Unifying cosmological and recent time variations of fundamental couplings
• Measuring space-time variation of the fundamental constants with redshifted submillimetre transitions of neutral carbon
• Mid- and far-infrared fine-structure line sensitivities to hypothetical variability of the fine-structure constant
• Testing the weak equivalence principle by differential measurements of fundamental constants in the Magellanic Clouds
• Searching for spatial variations of alpha^2/mu in the Milky Way
• Constraining fundamental constants of physics with quasar absorption line systems
• Constraints on the electron-to-proton mass ratio variation at the epoch of reionization
• Fine-structure transitions as a tool for studying variation of alpha at high redshifts
• Sensitivity of microwave spectra of deuterated ammonia to variation of electron-to-proton mass ratio
• [CI], [CII] and CO emission lines as a probe for alpha variations at low and high redshifts
• Sensitivity coefficients to $\alpha$-variation for fine-structure transitions in Carbon-like ions
• Constraints on the Variation of the QCD Interaction Scale ${\Lambda }_{\text{QCD}}$
• Fundamental physical constants at low and high redshifts