Methanol as a Sensitive Probe for Spatial and Temporal Variations of the Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio

Journal Article · Fri Mar 11 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.106.100801· OSTI ID:21562077

Jansen, Paul; Ubachs, Wim; Bethlem, Hendrick L ^[1]; Lihong, Xu ^[2]; Kleiner, Isabelle ^[3]

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1. Institute for Lasers, Life and Biophotonics, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam (Netherlands)
2. Department of Physics and Centre for Laser, Atomic, and Molecular Sciences, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick E2L 4L5 (Canada)
3. Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systemes Atmospheriques (LISA), CNRS UMR 7583 et Universites Paris 7 et Paris Est, 61 avenue du General de Gaulle, 94010 Creteil Cedex (France)

The 6.7 and 12.2 GHz masers, corresponding to the 5{sub 1}{yields}6{sub 0}A{sup +} and 2{sub 0}{yields}3{sub -1}E transitions in methanol (CH{sub 3}OH), respectively, are among the brightest radio objects in the sky. We present calculations for the sensitivity of these and other transitions in the ground state of methanol to a variation of the proton-to-electron mass ratio. We show that the sensitivity is greatly enhanced due to a cancellation of energies associated with the hindered internal rotation and the overall rotation of the molecule. We find sensitivities of K{sub {mu}=}-42 and K{sub {mu}=}-33, for the 5{sub 1}{yields}6{sub 0}A{sup +} and 2{sub 0}{yields}3{sub -1}E transitions, respectively. The sensitivities of other transitions in the different isotopologues of methanol range from -88 to 330. This makes methanol a sensitive probe for spatial and temporal variations of the proton-to-electron mass ratio.

• OSTI ID: 21562077
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.100801; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ELECTRONS
GHZ RANGE 01-100
MASERS
MASS
METHANOL
MOLECULES
PROBES
PROTONS
ROTATION
SENSITIVITY
VARIATIONS
ALCOHOLS
AMPLIFIERS
BARYONS
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EQUIPMENT
FERMIONS
FREQUENCY RANGE
GHZ RANGE
HADRONS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
LEPTONS
MICROWAVE AMPLIFIERS
MICROWAVE EQUIPMENT
MOTION
NUCLEONS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS