Constraints on the variation of the fine-structure constant at 3<z<10 with JWST emission-line galaxies
arxiv(2024)
Abstract
We present constraints on the spacetime variation of the fine-structure
constant α at redshifts 35. The [O III] doublet lines are arguably the best
emission lines to probe the variation in α. We divide our sample into 5
subsamples based on redshift and calculate the relative variation
Δα/α for the individual subsamples. The calculated
Δα/α values are consistent with zero within 1σ at all
redshifts, suggesting no time variation in α above a level of (1-2)
×10^-4 (1σ) in the past 13.2 billion years. When the whole
sample is combined, the constraint is improved to be Δα/α =
(0.4±0.7) ×10^-4. We further test the spatial variation in α
using four subsamples of galaxies in four different directions on the sky. The
measured Δα/α values are consistent with zero at a 1σ
level of ∼10^-4. While the constraints in this work are not as stringent
as those from lower-redshift quasar absorption lines in previous studies, this
work uses an independent tracer and provides the first constraints on
Δα/α at the highest redshifts. Our analyses also indicate that
the relative wavelength calibration of the JWST spectra is robust. With the
growing number of emission-line galaxies from JWST, we expect to achieve
stronger constraints in the future.
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