Future constraints on variations of the fine structure constant from combined CMB and weak lensing measurements

Alessandro Melchiorri; Eloisa Menegoni; Matteo Martinelli

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Future constraints on variations of the fine structure constant from combined CMB and weak lensing measurements

Matteo Martinelli, Eloisa Menegoni, Alessandro Melchiorri

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Submitted 20 Feb 2012

abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review

The authors' main claim We found that lensing data, as those expected from satellite experiments as Euclid could improve the constraint from future CMB experiments leading to a \Delta \alpha / \alpha = 8*10^{-4} accuracy.

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arXiv ID1202.4373 (version 3)

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CitationAlessandro Melchiorri, Eloisa Menegoni, Matteo Martinelli. "Future constraints on variations of the fine structure constant from combined CMB and weak lensing measurements." arXiv:1202.4373 (2012). https://pith.science/paper/JGPCUEAH

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What the abstract itself states, as probabilities: claims first 0.03 · states limitation 0.72 · human participants 0.01 · controlled comparison 0.12 · randomized assignment 0.01 · states quantitative result 0.97 · compares with prior results 0.61 · mentions code or data availability 0.02.

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We forecast the ability of future CMB and galaxy lensing surveys to constrain variations of the fine structure constant. We found that lensing data, as those expected from satellite experiments as Euclid could improve the constraint from future CMB experiments leading to a \Delta \alpha / \alpha = 8*10^{-4} accuracy. A variation of the fine structure constant \alpha is strongly degenerate with the Hubble constant H_0 and with inflationary parameters as the scalar spectral index n_s. These degeneracies may cause significant biases in the determination of cosmological parameters if a variation in \alpha as large as \sim 0.5 % is present at the epoch of recombination.

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#	sentence	role	the authors' own work	states the main conclusion	strength
s0	We forecast the ability of future CMB and galaxy lensing surveys to constrain variations of the fine structure constant.	contribution 0.98	0.60	0.09	asserted 0.55
s1	We found that lensing data, as those expected from satellite experiments as Euclid could improve the constraint from future CMB experiments leading to a \Delta \alpha / \alpha = 8*10^{-4} accuracy.	result 1.00	0.87	0.75	asserted 0.89
s2	A variation of the fine structure constant \alpha is strongly degenerate with the Hubble constant H_0 and with inflationary parameters as the scalar spectral index n_s.	background 0.49	0.37	0.10	asserted 1.00
s3	These degeneracies may cause significant biases in the determination of cosmological parameters if a variation in \alpha as large as \sim 0.5 % is present at the epoch of recombination.	interpretation 0.80	0.34	0.11	hedged possibility 1.00

What kind of paper the classifier reports this is: simulation study 0.62 · evidence from simulation or computation 0.97.

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Original abstract

We forecast the ability of future CMB and galaxy lensing surveys to constrain variations of the fine structure constant. We found that lensing data, as those expected from satellite experiments as Euclid could improve the constraint from future CMB experiments leading to a \Delta \alpha / \alpha = 8*10^{-4} accuracy. A variation of the fine structure constant \alpha is strongly degenerate with the Hubble constant H_0 and with inflationary parameters as the scalar spectral index n_s. These degeneracies may cause significant biases in the determination of cosmological parameters if a variation in \alpha as large as \sim 0.5 % is present at the epoch of recombination.

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1 arXiv paper cite this in 1 sentence

Each citing sentence is taken from the citing paper's LaTeX source and typed by Pith's classifier. A label appears at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), a contest at 0.7 or more; the quoted words are the citing authors'. How each label was checked · JSON

Papers citing it

Cites it as background 1 paper

Since then, this contradictory results were discussed several times by different research groups and the principles behind the observations were explored from many different aspects ( [ref] ).

Estimations of the cosmological parameters from the observational variation of the fine structure constant · the observational QSO data · 0.91

What it cites · 17 sentences without a confident label

Uses the method or tool of 4 papers

For weak lensing data we consider the convergence power spectra $P(ℓ)$ following the procedure described in [ref] .

Future weak lensing constraints in a dark coupled universe · Future data · 1.00
All spectra are generated using a modified version of the CAMB code [ref] taking into account the possible variation in the fine structure constant as discussed in [ref] .

New Constraints on variations of the fine structure constant from CMB anisotropies · Future data · 0.99
Alongside temperature and polarization power spectra ($C_ℓ^TT$, $C_ℓ^EE$ and $C_ℓ^TE$) we include also the the deflection power spectra $C_ℓ^dd$ and $C_ℓ^Td$ obtained through the quadratic estimator of the lensing deflection field $d$ presented in [ref]

CMB Lensing Reconstruction on the Full Sky · CMB data · 1.00

Uses data or values from 2 papers

The fiducial cosmological model assumed in producing the simulated data is the best-fit model from the WMAP seven year CMB survey (see Ref. [ref] ).

Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation · Future data · 0.99
In the most recent analysis, parametrizing a variation in the fine structure constant as $α/α_0$, where $α_0=1/137.03599907$ is the standard (local) value and $α$ is the value during the recombination, the authors of [ref] found the constraint $α/ α_0 = 0.984 ±0.005$, i.e. hinting also to a more than two standard deviation from the current value.

The Fine Structure Constant and the CMB Damping Scale · Introduction · 0.83

Cites as background 4 papers

The Planck satellite mission (see [ref] ), for example, will provide accurate temperature CMB maps by the end of this year.

The Scientific Programme of Planck · Introduction · 0.82
After the recent measurements of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB hereafter) anisotropies, galaxy clustering and supernovae type Ia luminosity distances (see e.g. [ref] ) cosmology has entered a "golden age" where not only a "standard" model of structure formation has been firmly established but also where physical assumptions not testable in laboratory can now be probed with unprecedented accuracy.

Baryon Acoustic Oscillations in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 Galaxy Sample · Introduction · 0.93
After the recent measurements of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB hereafter) anisotropies, galaxy clustering and supernovae type Ia luminosity distances (see e.g. [ref] ) cosmology has entered a "golden age" where not only a "standard" model of structure formation has been firmly established but also where physical assumptions not testable in laboratory can now be probed with unprecedented accuracy.

Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation · Introduction · 0.93

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