Four direct measurements of the fine-structure constant 13 billion years ago

Observations of the redshift z = 7.085 quasar J1120+0641 are used to search for variations of the fine structure constant, a, over the redshift range 5:5 to 7:1. Observations at z = 7:1 probe the physics of the universe at only 0.8 billion years old. These are the most distant direct measurements of a to date and the first measurements using a near-IR spectrograph. A new Al analysis method is employed. Four measurements from the X-SHOOTER spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) constrain changes in a relative to the terrestrial value (alpha(0)). The weighted mean electromagnetic force in this location in the universe deviates from the terrestrial value by Delta alpha/alpha = (alpha(z) - alpha(0))/alpha(0) = (-2:18 +/- 7:27) x 10(-5), consistent with no temporal change. Combining these measurements with existing data, we find a spatial variation is preferred over a no-variation model at the 3:9 sigma level.