New Insights into the Fine-structure Constant from Quasar Observations

Recent research has utilized the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) to investigate the fine-structure constant, denoted as ( \alpha ), through a sample of quasars. The study, titled "Measuring the Time Variation of the Fine-structure Constant with Quasars Detected by LAMOST," was authored by Jin-Nan Wei, Rui-Jie Chen, Jun-Jie Wei, Martin Lopez-Corredoira, and Xue-Feng Wu. It was submitted to arXiv on September 3, 2024.

The researchers focused on 209 quasar spectra that exhibited strong and narrow [O III] emission lines, covering a redshift range of ( 0 < z < 0.8 ). Their analysis yielded a result of ( \Delta\alpha/\alpha = (0.5 \pm 3.7) \times 10^{-4} ), indicating no significant evidence for variation in ( \alpha ) over the cosmological timescales examined. Furthermore, they estimated the mean rate of change in ( \Delta\alpha/\alpha ) to be limited to ( (-3.4 \pm 2.4) \times 10^{-13} \mathrm{yr^{-1}} ) over the past 7 billion years.

While the findings from LAMOST are not as competitive as those from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), they provide independent corroboration of SDSS results. This research contributes to the ongoing exploration of fundamental constants in physics and their potential variations over time, which could have implications for our understanding of the universe's evolution and the laws of physics as we know them. The full paper can be cited as arXiv:2409.01554.