COSMOLOGICAL VARIABILITY OF FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL CONSTANTS

Gamow was one of the pioneers who studied the possible variability of fundamental physical constants. Some versions of modern Grand Unificat ion theories do predict such variability. The paper is concerned with three of the constants: the fine-structure constant, the ratio of the proton mass m(p) to the electron mass m(e), and the ratio of cu the ne utron mass m(p), to m(e). It is shown on the basis of the quasar spect ra analysis, that all the three constants revealed no statistically si gnificant variation over the last 90% of the life time of the Universe . At the 2 sigma significance level, the following upper bounds are ob tained for the epoch corresponding to the cosmological redshifts z sim ilar to 2 - 3: Delta alpha/alpha < 1.5 x 10(-3), Delta m(p)/m(p) < 2 x 10(-3), and Delta m/m < 3 x 10(-4), where Delta x is a possible devia tion of a quantity x from its present value, m = m(p)+m(n), and the nu cleon masses are in units of m(e). (According to new observational dat a which became known most recently, Delta m(p)/m(p) < 2 x 10(-4)). In addition a possible anisotropy of the high-redshift fine splitting ove r the celestial sphere is checked. Within the relative statistical err or 3 sigma < 1% the values of alpha turned out to be the same in vario us quadrants of the celestial sphere, which corresponds to their equal ity in causally disconnected areas. However, at the 2 sigma level a te ntative anisotropy of estimated Delta alpha/alpha values is found in d irections that approximately coincide with the direction of the relic microwave background anisotropy. The revealed constraints serve as cri teria for selection of those theoretical models which predict variatio n of alpha, m(p) or m(n) with the cosmological time.