CWL
13th February 2003, 06:02 AM
Pretty darn interesting article from Focus (http://focus.aps.org/):
A Constant That Isn't Constant (http://focus.aps.org/story/v8/st9)
A quote:
Analysis of the light from distant quasars has shown that billions of years ago the laws of physics may have been slightly different. A research team has found evidence that the fine structure constant--which measures the strength with which subatomic particles interact with one another and with light--was different at earlier times in the history of the Universe. The new work, which will appear in the 27 August print issue of PRL, confirms earlier results by the same group, which suggested that six billion years ago the value was about one part in 105 smaller. They now have added more data and have ruled out more potential sources of systematic error. If confirmed by other experiments, the finding would profoundly change our understanding of the evolution of the Universe, but not all experts are convinced.
A Constant That Isn't Constant (http://focus.aps.org/story/v8/st9)
A quote:
Analysis of the light from distant quasars has shown that billions of years ago the laws of physics may have been slightly different. A research team has found evidence that the fine structure constant--which measures the strength with which subatomic particles interact with one another and with light--was different at earlier times in the history of the Universe. The new work, which will appear in the 27 August print issue of PRL, confirms earlier results by the same group, which suggested that six billion years ago the value was about one part in 105 smaller. They now have added more data and have ruled out more potential sources of systematic error. If confirmed by other experiments, the finding would profoundly change our understanding of the evolution of the Universe, but not all experts are convinced.