A Stringent Limit on a Drifting Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio from Alcohol in the Early Universe | Zendy

J. Bagdonaite | Zendy; Paul Jansen | Zendy; C. Henkel | Zendy; Hendrick L. Bethlem | Zendy; K. M. Menten | Zendy; W. Ubachs | Zendy

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A Stringent Limit on a Drifting Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio from Alcohol in the Early Universe

Author(s) -

J. Bagdonaite,

Paul Jansen,

C. Henkel,

Hendrick L. Bethlem,

K. M. Menten,

W. Ubachs

Publication year - 2012

Publication title -

science

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 12.556

H-Index - 1186

eISSN - 1095-9203

pISSN - 0036-8075

DOI - 10.1126/science.1224898

Subject(s) - physics , redshift , limit (mathematics) , universe , proton , mass ratio , electron , astrophysics , metric expansion of space , space (punctuation) , cosmology , nuclear physics , dark energy , galaxy , mathematical analysis , mathematics , linguistics , philosophy

The standard model of physics is built on the fundamental constants of nature, but it does not provide an explanation for their values, nor require their constancy over space and time. Here we set a limit on a possible cosmological variation of the proton-to-electron mass ratio μ by comparing transitions in methanol observed in the early universe with those measured in the laboratory. From radio-astronomical observations of PKS1830-211, we deduced a constraint of Δμ/μ = (0.0 ± 1.0) × 10(-7) at redshift z = 0.89, corresponding to a look-back time of 7 billion years. This is consistent with a null result.

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