Variation of fundamental constants and white dwarfs

Abstract

Theories that attempt to unify the four fundamental interactions and alternative theories of gravity predict time and/or spatial variation of the fundamental constants of nature. Different versions of these theories predict different behaviours for these variations. In consequence, experimental and observational bounds are an important tool to check the validity of such proposals. In this paper, we review constraints on the possible variation of the fundamental constants from astronomical observations and geophysical experiments designed to test the constancy of the fundamental constants of nature over different timescales. We also focus on the limits that can be obtained from white dwarfs, which can constrain the variation of the constants with the gravitational potential.

Comments: 15 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings article based on invited review talk for the IAU Symposium 357, "White Dwarfs as Probes of Fundamental Physics and Tracers of Planetary, Stellar, and Galactic Evolution"