Constraints on extended Bekenstein models from cosmological, astrophysical, and local data

Understand

Searching for variations of nature's fundamental constants is a crucial step in our quest to go beyond our current standard model of fundamental physics.

• If they exist, such variations will be very likely driven by the existence of a new fundamental field.
• The Bekenstein model and its extensions introduce such a scalar field in a purely phenomenological way, inducing a variation of the fine-structure constant on cosmological scales.
• This theoretical framework is as simple and general as possible while still preserving all the symmetries of standard quantum electrodynamics.