Variation of the constants in the late and early universe

Abstract

Recent key observational results on the variation of fine structure constant, the proton to electron mass ratio and the gravitational constant are reviewed. The necessity to substantiate the dark sector of cosmology and to test gravity on astrophysical scales is also emphasized.

19 pages, 6 figures, Invited talk at the conference "The Quest for Cosmological Scalar Fields", Porto, 8-10 July 2004

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• The Local Effects of Cosmological Variations in Physical 'Constants' and Scalar Fields I. Spherically Symmetric Spacetimes
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• Weak-lensing by the large scale structure in a spatially anisotropic universe: theory and predictions
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• The Local Effects of Cosmological Variations in Physical 'Constants' and Scalar Fields II. Quasi-Spherical Spacetimes
• Mirror matter can alleviate the cosmological lithium problem
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• Interpretation of geodesy experiments in non-Newtonian theories of gravity
• Effects of a scalar fifth force on the dynamics of a charged particle as a new experimental design to test chameleon theories
• The Instantaneous Redshift Difference of Gravitationally Lensed Images: Theory and Observational Prospects
• Observational effects of varying speed of light in quadratic gravity cosmological models