Talk detail

Participant	Bagdonaite, Julija
Institution	Department of physics and astronomy, VU University Amsterdam - De Boelelaan 1081 - Amsterdam - North Holland - Netherland

Session	EG2	Accepted		Order	Time
Talk	Poster abstract	Title	Methanol for probing the constancy of fundamental constants
Co-authors
Abstract	The question of the assumed constancy of the fundamental constants of physics, such as the fine structure constant, or the proton-to-electron mass ratio, can be addressed via quasar spectroscopy. The wavelengths of certain atomic or molecular spectral lines have well defined dependencies on the values of these constants. It means that if any drift has occurred in the distant past of the Universe, the sensitive lines would shift from their expected positions. Thus, to experimentally search for the variation a comparison is made between highly accurate laboratory spectra and quasar spectra. Recently, rotational transitions of methanol have been identified as the most sensitive probe for the possible variation of the proton-to-electron mass ratio. Based on measurements with the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope, a study of methanol absorption lines is presented towards the gravitational lens system PKS1830-211 at redshift 0.9.