Observational Constraints on Varying-alpha Domain Walls
arXiv:1404.3419 · doi:10.3390/universe1010006
Abstract
We consider the possibility that current hints of spatial variations of the fine structure constant at high redshift, based on VLT/UVES and Keck/HIRES observations, could be caused by a biased domain wall network described by a scalar field non-minimally coupled to the electromagnetic field. We show that in order to be responsible for the reported spatial variations of the fine structure constant, the fractional contribution of the domain wall network to the energy density of the Universe should be tightly constrained within the range . We also show that the domain wall dynamics should be essentially frictionless, so that its characteristic scale is in the order of the Hubble radius at the present time.
11 pages, no figures (matches published version)
References in corpus (16)
- Toward an Understanding of Foreground Emission in the BICEP2 Region
- Spatial variation in the fine-structure constant -- new results from VLT/UVES
- A joint analysis of Planck and BICEP2 B modes including dust polarization uncertainty
- CMB polarization power spectra contributions from a network of cosmic strings
- B-modes from Cosmic Strings
- B polarization of cosmic microwave background as a tracer of strings
- Can topological defects mimic the BICEP2 B-mode signal?
- Dynamics of domain wall networks with junctions
- Frustrated Expectations: Defect Networks and Dark Energy
- The Wall of Fundamental Constants
- Constraining topological defects with temperature and polarization anisotropies
- p-brane dynamics in (N+1)-dimensional FRW universes: a unified framework
- Domain wall network evolution in (N+1)-dimensional FRW universes
- Dynamics of Biased Domain Walls and the Devaluation Mechanism
- Linking the BICEP2 result and the hemispherical power asymmetry through spatial variation of
- Runaway Domain Wall and Space-time Varying alpha