Report
on Scientific Activity in 1999
Spectroscopy of Quasars and Physics of Neutron Stars
This report represents an English translation of the
Report on Achievements of the Scientific School
of Prof. D.A. Varshalovich
for 1999.
It includes only a part of significant results
of the
Department of Theoretical Astrophysics.
A previous report, which contains
more detailed descriptions
of the fields of activity, resides here.
Recent
preprints and publications related to these and other projects
can be found here.
Spectroscopy of quasars and cosmology: variability of fundamental physical constants
Principal Investigator: D.A. Varshalovich
The problem of possible variation of fundamental physical constants
is one of the key problems of the current theories
of unification of strong and electroweak interactions with gravity.
As a result of investigation of distant quasars,
whose spectra have been formed 10-13 billion years ago,
it has been shown that the values of the fine-structure constant
are the same in different causally disconnected regions of the Universe
with an accuracy of 10-4.
The strongest up-to-date upper limits to the rates of
cosmological variation of the fundamental physical constants
are obtained:
- fractional variation of the fine-structure constant
cannot exceed 1.4 × 10-14 per year;
- fractional variation of the electron-to-proton mass ratio
cannot exceed 1.5 × 10-14 per year.
The limits obtained serve as an effective criterion for selection
of versions of the modern theories (Kaluza-Klein, SUSY GUT,
Superstribg.M-theory) that predict the variation of the constants
in the course of the cosmological evolution.
For details, see
Astrophys. J., 505, 523 (1998)
and
Astron. & Astrophys. 343, 439 (1999).
Physics of neutron stars: internal structure and evolution, atmosphere
physics, microscopic processes, thermal structure and cooling
Principal Investigators: Yu.A. Shibanov, D.G. Yakovlev
Page created on April 7, 2000
by
Alexander Potekhin
