Flambaum, Victor

Vladimir A. Dzuba, Victor V. Flambaum, Michael T. Murphy, and John K. Webb... 

Victor V. Flambaum, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia, f lambaumQnewt. phys. unsw. edu. au... 

Chapter 16, "Variation of the Fundamental Constants as Revealed by Molecules Astrophysical Observations and Laboratory Experiments, by Victor Flambaum and Mikhail Kozlov, describes the application of precision molecular spectroscopy to the study of a possible variation of the fundamental constants. The authors show that molecular spectra are mostly sensitive to two dimensionless constants, namely the fine-structure constant and the electron-to-proton mass ratio. The chapter discusses the results which follow from the astrophysical observations of the optical and microwave spectra of molecules, as well as possible laboratory experiments with molecules. Although the accuracy of the laboratory results cannot yet compete with that of the astrophysical observations, there are significantly improved experiments in progress that are likely to reverse this situation soon. The ideas behind these experiments and the preliminary experimental results so far obtained are discussed in detail. 

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