Asteroseismic Constraints on the Cosmic-time Variation of the Gravitational Constant from an Ancient Main-sequence Star

Abstract

We investigate the variation of the gravitational constant G over the history of the universe by modeling the effects on the evolution and asteroseismology of the low-mass star KIC 7970740, which is one of the oldest (∼11 Gyr) and best-observed solar-like oscillators in the Galaxy. From these data we find G ˙ / G = ( 1.2 ± 2.6 ) × 10 − 12 yr − 1 , that is, no evidence for any variation in G . We also find a Bayesian asteroseismic estimate of the age of the universe as well as astrophysical S-factors for five nuclear reactions obtained through a 12-dimensional stellar evolution Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation.