Submission + - Fundamental constant not so constant in space (economist.com)
Danny Rathjens writes: "The Economist cutely writes, "Ye cannae change the laws of physics
Or can you?" There was already evidence that the fine structure constant — a measure of the strength of electromagnetic interaction — became slightly smaller going back billions of years based on observations of light from quasars. Staggering newer observations provided evidence that the value going back in time actually became larger! The crucial difference being that the new observations were take from a telescope in the other hemisphere and so pointing to a different part of the universe. That indicates that the fine structure constant not only
changed over time but it also varies based on position in space! physicsworld.com points out some fascinating implications of this observation. The pre-print of the article submitted to PRL is available at arxiv.org."
Or can you?" There was already evidence that the fine structure constant — a measure of the strength of electromagnetic interaction — became slightly smaller going back billions of years based on observations of light from quasars. Staggering newer observations provided evidence that the value going back in time actually became larger! The crucial difference being that the new observations were take from a telescope in the other hemisphere and so pointing to a different part of the universe. That indicates that the fine structure constant not only
changed over time but it also varies based on position in space! physicsworld.com points out some fascinating implications of this observation. The pre-print of the article submitted to PRL is available at arxiv.org."
