SYMPOSIUM 1: From Varying Couplings to Fundamental Physics

Nature is characterized by a number of physical laws and fundamental dimensionless couplings. These determine the  properties of our physical universe, from the size of atoms, cells and mountains to the ultimate fate of the universe as a whole. It is rather remarkable how little we know about them. The constancy of physical laws is one of the cornerstones of the scientific research method, but for fundamental couplings this is an assumption with no other justification  than a historical assumption.

There is no 'theory of constants' describing their role in the underlying theories and how they relate to one another or how many  of them are truly fundamental. Studying the behaviour of these quantities throughout the history of the universe is an effective way to probe fundamental physics. This explains why ESA and ESO include varying fundamental constants among their key science drivers for the next generation of facilities.

More information at the symposium site: http://www.astro.up.pt/vfc2010

SOC:

John D. Barrow (Cambridge, UK)
Enrique García-Berro (UPC, Spain)
Sergei Levshakov (Ioffe Inst., Russia)
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it (CAUP, Portugal)
João Magueijo (Imperial College, UK)
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it (INAF-Trieste, Italy)
Michael Murphy (Swinburne, Australia)
Keith Olive (Minnesota, USA)
Ekkehard Peik (PTB, Germany)
Patrick Petitjean (IAP, France)
Dieter Reimers (Hamburg Obs., Germany)
Rodger Thompson (Steward Obs., USA)
Wim Ubachs (VU, The Netherlands)
John Webb (New South Wales, Australia)

Programme:

Session 1: Monday, September 6th, 1130-1300 - Carlos Martins (CAUP)

1130-1200 Carlos Martins (CAUP)
Astrophysical Probes of Fundamental Physics

1200-1215 Nelson Nunes (Heidelberg)
Probing Dark Energy with Varying Fundamental Parameters

1215-1245 João Magueijo (Imperial)
Varying Speed of Light and Cosmic Structure

1245-1300 Lucila Kraiselburd (La Plata)
Beyond Bekenstein's Theory



Session 2: Monday, September 6th, 1430-1600 - Wim Ubachs (Amsterdam)

1430-1500 Victor Flambaum (UNSW)
Varying Fundamental Constants from Big Bang to Atomic Clocks

1500-1530 Ekkehard Peik (PTB)
Experiments with Optical Clocks Based on Trapped Ions

1530-1600 Sébastien Bize (Paris)
Testing the Stability of Fundamental Constants Using the LNE-SYRTE Clock Ensemble



Session 3: Monday, September 6th, 1630-1800 - João Magueijo (Imperial)

1630-1700 Enrique Garcia-Berro (Barcelona)
White Dwarf Constraints on Varying Constants

1700-1730 Silvia Galli (APC)
Constraining the variation of fundamental couplings with the cosmic microwave background

1730-1745 José Pedro Mimoso (Lisbon)
The Variation of G in a Negatively Curved Space-time

1745-1800 Marco Zagermann (Hannover)
String Theory, Dark Energy and Varying Couplings



Session 4: Tuesday, September 7th, 0900-1030 - Patrick Petitjean (IAP)

0900-0930 John Webb (UNSW)
New Analysis of a Large Sample of VLT Quasar Spectra for Varying Fine-structure Constant

0930-0945 Carlos Gutierrez (IAC)
The Value of the Fine-structure Constant over Cosmological Times

0945-1015 Rodger Thompson (Steward Obs.)
Current State of Mu Measurements Versus Cosmic Time

1015-1030 Martin Wendt (Hamburg)
Robust Limit on a Varying Proton-to-electron Mass Ratio from a Single H2 System



Session 5: Tuesday, September 7th, 1430-1600 - Rodger Thompson (Steward Obs.)

1430-1500 Wim Ubachs (Amsterdam)
On the Variation of the Proton-to-electron Mass Ratio

1500-1515 Mikhail Kozlov (Petersburg Inst.)
Sensitivity of Molecular Microwave Spectra to Varying Fundamental Constants

1515-1545 Sergey Levshakov (Ioffe Inst.)
Searching for Chameleon-like Scalar Fields

1545-1600 Sperello Di Serego Alighieri (Arcetri)
Cosmological Birefringence



Session 6: Tuesday, September 7th, 1630-1800 - Paolo Molaro (Trieste)

1630-1700 Patrick Petitjean (IAP)
Detection of 21cm, H2 and D Absorption at z>3 Along the Line of Sight of J1337+3152

1700-1730 Nissim Kanekar (NCRA)
Probing Fundamental Constant Evolution with Radio Spectroscopy

1730-1750 Paolo Molaro (Trieste)
Future Facilities for Probing Fundamental Constants

1745-1800 Carlos Martins (CAUP)
Closing Remarks