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Observations of four times ionized iron and nickel (Fe V & Ni V) in the G191-B2B white dwarf spectrum have been used to test for variations in the fine structure constant, α, in the presence of strong gravitational fields. The laboratory wavelengths for these ions were thought to be the cause of inconsistent conclusions regarding the
variation of α as observed through the white dwarf spectrum. This thesis presents 129 revised Fe V wavelengths (1200 Å to 1600 Å) and 161 revised Ni V wavelengths (1200 Å to 1400 Å) with uncertainties of approximately 3 mÅ. A systematic calibration error
is identified in the previous Ni V wavelengths and is corrected in this work. The evaluation of the fine structure variation is significantly improved with the results
found in this thesis.
variation of α as observed through the white dwarf spectrum. This thesis presents 129 revised Fe V wavelengths (1200 Å to 1600 Å) and 161 revised Ni V wavelengths (1200 Å to 1400 Å) with uncertainties of approximately 3 mÅ. A systematic calibration error
is identified in the previous Ni V wavelengths and is corrected in this work. The evaluation of the fine structure variation is significantly improved with the results
found in this thesis.
ContributorsWard, Jacob Wolfgang (Author) / Treacy, Michael (Thesis director) / Alarcon, Ricardo (Committee member) / Nave, Gillian (Committee member) / Department of Physics (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05