Evolution of the fine-structure constant in the non-linear regime

Abstract

We study the evolution of the fine-structure constant, $\alpha$, induced by non-linear density perturbations in the context of the simplest class of quintessence models with a non-minimal coupling to the electromagnetic field, in which the two available free functions (potential and gauge kinetic function) are Taylor-expanded up to linear order. We show that the results obtained using the spherical infall model for an infinite wavelength inhomogeneity are inconsistent with the results of a local linearized gravity study and we argue in favour of the second approach. We also discuss recent claims that the value of $\alpha$ inside virialised regions could be significantly different from the background one on the basis of these findings.

5 pages, 3 figures

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Cited by in corpus (11)

• Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• Environmental Dependence of Masses and Coupling Constants
• General Dynamics of Varying-Alpha Universes
• Varying-Alpha Cosmologies with Potentials
• On the cosmological evolution of alpha and mu and the dynamics of dark energy
• Impact of the matter density uncertainty on the dark energy reconstruction
• Estimations of the cosmological parameters from the observational variation of the fine structure constant
• Assessing the viability of successful reconstruction of the dynamics of dark energy using varying fundamental couplings
• Cosmological Consequences of Topological Defects: Dark Energy and Varying Fundamental Constants
• Halos of dark energy