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Time Variation of the Fine Structure Constant in the Spacetime of a Domain Wall

L. Campanelli, P. Cea, L. Tedesco

astro-pharXiv:astro-ph/0510825

Abstract

The gravitational field produced by a domain wall acts as a medium with spacetime-dependent permittivity ε. Therefore, the fine structure constant α= e2/4 πεwill be a time-dependent function at fixed position. The most stringent constraint on the time-variation of αcomes from the natural reactor Oklo and gives |α/α| < few 10-17 yr-1. This limit constrains the tension of a cosmic domain wall to be less than σ 10-2 MeV3, and then represents the most severe limit on the energy density of a cosmic wall stretching our Universe.

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