2001/11/01 by C. J. A. P. Martins
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Current (fluid) #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Epistemology #Mathematics #Observational study #Philosophy #Physics #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #Statistical physics #Statistics #Theoretical physics #astro-ph #gr-qc #hep-ph #hep-th
paper · pdf · open access · doi:10.1098/rsta.2002.1087
published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences 360(1801), 25-2695 (Royal Society) · 14 pages, no figures. Essay to appear in Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. A Triennial Series (Christmas 2002 Issue)
openalex publication_date 2001/11/01 · arxiv created 2002/05/29 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The idea of possible time or space variations of the 'fundamental' constants of nature, although not new, is only now beginning to be actively considered by large numbers of researchers in the particle physics, cosmology and astrophysics communities. This revival is mostly due to the claims of possible detection of such variations, in various different contexts and by several groups. I present the current theoretical motivations and expectations for such variations, review the current observational status and discuss the impact of a possible confirmation of these results in our views of cosmology and physics as a whole.