Observational constraint on the varying speed of light theory

Abstract

The varying speed of light (VSL) theory is controversial. It succeeds in explaining some cosmological problems, but on the other hand it is excluded by mainstream physics because it will shake the foundation of physics. In the present paper, we devote ourselves to test whether the speed of light is varying from the observational data of the type Ia Supernova, Baryon Acoustic Oscillation, Observational $H(z)$ data and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). We select the common form $c(t)=c_0{a}^n(t)$ with the contribution of dark energy and matter, where $c_0$ is the current value of speed of light, $n$ is a constant, and consequently construct a varying speed of light dark energy model (VSLDE). The combined observational data show a much trivial constraint $n=-0.0033\pm 0.0045$ at 68.3\% confidence level, which indicates that the speed of light may be a constant with high significance. By reconstructing the time-variable $c(t)$, we find that the speed of light almost has no variation for redshift $z<10^{-1}$. For high-$z$ observations, they are more sensitive to the VSLDE model, but the variation of speed of light is only in order of $10^{-2}$. We also introduce the geometrical diagnostic $Om(z)$ to show the difference between the VSLDE and $\Lambda$CDM model. The result shows that the current data are difficult to differentiate them. All the results show that the observational data favor the constant speed of light.

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Cited by in corpus (18)

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• Measuring the speed of light with updated Hubble diagram of high-redshift standard candles
• Is there a connection between "dark" and "light" physics?
• Observational constraints on varying fundamental constants in a minimal CPC model
• Review on the minimally extended varying speed of light model
• Shadows of black holes at cosmological distances in the co-varying physical couplings framework
• Constraining Coupling Constants' Variation with Supernovae, Quasars, and GRBs
• Measuring the speed of light with cosmological observations: current constraints and forecasts
• Stringent constraint on the CCC+TL cosmology with $H(z)$ Measurements
• Dilaton-induced variations in Planck constant and speed of light: An alternative to Dark Energy
• Constraining Co-Varying Coupling Constants from Globular Cluster Age
• A mechanism to generate varying speed of light via Higgs-dilaton coupling: Theory and cosmological applications
• New analysis of SNeIa Pantheon Catalog: Variable speed of light as an alternative to dark energy
• Revisiting the Constancy of the Speed of Light: Galaxy Cluster Mass Bias Implications
• A model-independent test of speed of light variability with cosmological observations