Varying Constants in Brane World Scenarios

Abstract

Higher-dimensional theories imply that some constants, such as the gravitational constant and the strength of the gauge-couplings, are not fundamental constants. Instead they are related to the sizes of the extra--dimensional space, which are moduli fields in the four--dimensional effective theory. We study the cosmological evolution of the moduli fields appearing in brane world scenarios and discuss the implications for varying constants.

5 pages, LaTeX, 5 figures; based on a talk given by C. van de Bruck at JENAM 2002, Porto; typos corrected