# Fine Structure Constant: Is It Really a Constant?

@article{Bekenstein1982FineSC,
title={Fine Structure Constant: Is It Really a Constant?},
author={J. Bekenstein},
journal={Physical Review D},
year={1982},
volume={25},
pages={1527-1539}
}
It is often claimed that the fine-structure "constant" $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ is shown to be strictly constant in time by a variety of astronomical and geophysical results. These constrain its fractional rate of change $\frac{\stackrel{\ifmmode \dot{}\else \.{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\alpha}}}{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$ to at least some orders of magnitude below the Hubble rate ${H}_{0}$. We argue that the conclusion is not as straightforward as claimed since there are good physical reasons to expect… Expand
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