Constant comment. (Letters).I detect a blind spot in "Constant changes" (SN: 10/6/01, p. 222). Theorists were quick to offer explanations of why the fine-structure constant The fine-structure constant or Sommerfeld fine-structure constant, usually denoted  , is the fundamental physical constant characterizing the strength of the electromagnetic interaction. might have been different 12 billion years ago.
But no one thought to question the chain of reasoning that led to that
conclusion. We know that quasar quasar (kwā`sär), one of a class of blue celestial objects having the appearance of stars when viewed through a telescope and currently believed to be the most distant and most luminous objects in the universe; the name is shortened from spectra are drastically redshifted
during their multibillion-year journey to Earth. Is it absurd to imagine
that they might be slightly stretched or compressed as well, that the
cosmological redshift redshiftDisplacement of the spectrum of an astronomical object toward longer wavelengths (visible light shifts toward the red end of the spectrum). In 1929 Edwin Hubble reported that distant galaxies had redshifts proportionate to their distances (see might act differently on different wavelengths? Of course, to entertain such an idea would be to question our understanding of Big Bang big bang Model of the origin of the universe, which holds that it emerged from a state of extremely high temperature and density in an explosive expansion 10 billion–15 billion years ago. cosmology. Apparently, these theorists find the notion of variable constants easier to swallow. Gregory Kusnick Seattle, Wash. |
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