Oklo Constraint on the Time-Variability of the Fine-Structure Constant

Abstract

The Oklo phenomenon, natural fission reactors which had taken place in Gabon about 2 billion years ago, provides one of the most stringent constraints on the possible time-variability of the fine-structure constant $α$. We first review briefly what it is and how reliable it is in constraining $α$. We then compare the result with a more recent result on the nonzero change of $α$ obtained from the observation of the QSO absorption lines. We suggest a possible way to make these results consistent with each other in terms of the behavior of a scalar field which is expected to be responsible for the acceleration of the universe.