J/A+AS/104/89ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+AS/104/89CDSPOTEKHIN A.Y.VARSHALOVICH D.A.1997-12-09T17:19:27Z1997-12-09T18:19:20ZCDS support team

CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

cds-question@unistra.fratomic-physicsquasarsA statistical analysis of fine splitting of C IV, N V, O VI, Mg II, Al III and Si IV doublet absorption lines in quasar spectra is carried out in order to estimate a possible time variation of the fine-structure constant {alpha}= e^2^(h/2{pi})c (~1/137) over cosmological time scales t~10^10^yr. The observational basis of the analysis is a catalogue of 1414 pairs of wavelengths with redshifts z = 0.2 - 3.7, compiled from data published in 1980-1992. Robust statistical estimates like the ``trimmed mean'' are used as well as the least squares. No statistically significant time variation of {alpha} is found. The estimate {alpha}^-1^d{alpha}/dz = (-0.6+/-2.8)10^-4^ is obtained. For the 95% significance level, an upper bound on the rate of a relative variation of the fine-structure constant is |{alpha}^-1^d{alpha}/dz| < 5.6x10^-4^, which corresponds approximately to |{alpha}^-1^d{alpha}/dt| < 4x10^-14^ yr^-1^. This limit represents the strongest up-to-date restriction on the possible time variation of {alpha} for the epoch 0.2 <= z <~ 4.1994A&AS..104...89Phttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+AS/104/89CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic servicehttps://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+AS/104/89https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+AS/104/89http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+AS/104/89https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+AS/104/89https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+AS/104/89http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+AS/104/89GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tapdefaultJ/A+AS/104/89/table7Si IV absorption wavelengthsrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintQSOQSO numbermeta.id;meta.maincharzredshiftsrc.redshiftdoublelambda1Observed wavelength0.1nmem.wlfloatn_lambda1[ a] When a, air wavelength, else the wavelength is vacuum heliocentricmeta.notecharlamdba2Observed wavelength0.1nmem.wlfloatn_lambda2[ a] When a, air wavelength, else the wavelength is vacuum heliocentricmeta.notecharrefReferencemeta.refintYObservational estimate of Delta(alpha)/alpha (alpha = fine-structure constant)stat.paramfloatJ/A+AS/104/89/table2C IV absorption wavelengthsrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintQSOQSO numbermeta.id;meta.maincharzredshiftsrc.redshiftdoublelambda1Observed wavelength0.1nmem.wlfloatn_lambda1[ a] When a, air wavelength, else the wavelength is vacuum heliocentricmeta.notecharlamdba2Observed wavelength0.1nmem.wlfloatn_lambda2[ a] When a, air wavelength, else the wavelength is vacuum heliocentricmeta.notecharrefReferencemeta.refintYObservational estimate of Delta(alpha)/alpha (alpha = fine-structure constant)stat.paramfloatJ/A+AS/104/89/table3N V absorption wavelengthsQSOQSO numbermeta.id;meta.maincharzredshiftsrc.redshiftdoublerecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintlambda1Observed wavelength0.1nmem.wlfloatn_lambda1[ a] When a, air wavelength, else the wavelength is vacuum heliocentricmeta.notecharlamdba2Observed wavelength0.1nmem.wlfloatn_lambda2[ a] When a, air wavelength, else the wavelength is vacuum heliocentricmeta.notecharrefReferencemeta.refintYObservational estimate of Delta(alpha)/alpha (alpha = fine-structure constant)stat.paramfloatJ/A+AS/104/89/table4O VI absorption wavelengthsQSOQSO numbermeta.id;meta.maincharrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintzredshiftsrc.redshiftdoublelambda1Observed wavelength0.1nmem.wlfloatn_lambda1[ a] When a, air wavelength, else the wavelength is vacuum heliocentricmeta.notecharlamdba2Observed wavelength0.1nmem.wlfloatn_lambda2[ a] When a, air wavelength, else the wavelength is vacuum heliocentricmeta.notecharrefReferencemeta.refintYObservational estimate of Delta(alpha)/alpha (alpha = fine-structure constant)stat.paramfloatJ/A+AS/104/89/table5Mg II absorption wavelengthsrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintQSOQSO numbermeta.id;meta.maincharzredshiftsrc.redshiftdoublelambda1Observed wavelength0.1nmem.wlfloatn_lambda1[ a] When a, air wavelength, else the wavelength is vacuum heliocentricmeta.notecharlamdba2Observed wavelength0.1nmem.wlfloatn_lambda2[ a] When a, air wavelength, else the wavelength is vacuum heliocentricmeta.notecharrefReferencemeta.refintYObservational estimate of Delta(alpha)/alpha (alpha = fine-structure constant)stat.paramfloatJ/A+AS/104/89/table6Al III absorption wavelengthsQSOQSO numbermeta.id;meta.maincharrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintzredshiftsrc.redshiftdoublelambda1Observed wavelength0.1nmem.wlfloatn_lambda1[ a] When a, air wavelength, else the wavelength is vacuum heliocentricmeta.notecharlamdba2Observed wavelength0.1nmem.wlfloatn_lambda2[ a] When a, air wavelength, else the wavelength is vacuum heliocentricmeta.notecharrefReferencemeta.refintYObservational estimate of Delta(alpha)/alpha (alpha = fine-structure constant)stat.paramfloat