MG13 - Talk detail |
Participant |
Ubachs, Wim | |||||||
Institution |
VU University Amsterdam, Dept. of Physics - De Boelelaan 1081 - Amsterdam - - Netherland | |||||||
Session |
EG2 |
Accepted |
Yes |
Order |
7 |
Time |
15' + 3' | |
Talk |
Oral abstract |
Title |
Search for a drifting proton-electron mass ratio on a cosmologicala time scale | |||||
Co-authors | ||||||||
Abstract |
Accurate measurements of molecular line spectra in the early Universe, compared to laboratory measurements of the same lines can reveal possible drifts in the value of a dimensionless fundamental constant of nature: the proton-electron mass ratio (mu). We will report on observations of molecular hydrogen lines at redshifts z>2 that have yielded constraints on a relative variation of mu at the level of 10^(-5). Recently we have discovered that spectral lines of the methanol molecule at microwave frequencies have much larger sensitivities for varying constant, up to a thousand times more sensitive than H2. We will present data on a comprehensive study of methanol in PKS-1830 by radio-astronomy revealing much tighter constraints on a varying mu. |
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