Constraining the Variation in Fine-Structure Constant Using SDSS DR8 QSO Spectra

Abstract

We report a robust constrain on the possible variation of fine-structure constant, alpha = e^2/(hbar*c), obtained using O III 4959,5007, nebular emission lines from QSOs. We find Delta-alpha/alpha=-(2.1 +/- 1.6) x 10^(-5) based on a well selected sample of 2347 QSOs from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 8 with 0.02 < z < 0.74. Our result is consistent with a non-varying alpha at a level of 2 x 10^(-5) over approximately 7 Gyr. This is the largest sample of extragalactic objects yet used to constrain the variation of alpha. While this constraint is not as stringent as those determined using many-multiplet method it is free from various systematic effects. A factor of ~ 4 improvement in Delta-alpha/alpha achieved here compared to the previous study (Bahcall et al. 2004) is just consistent with what is expected based on a factor of 14 times bigger sample used here. This suggests that errors are mainly dominated by the statistical uncertainty. We also find the ratio of transition probabilities corresponding to the O III 5007 A and 4959 A lines to be 2.933+/-0.002, in good agreement with the National Institute of Standards and Technology measurements.