Sensitivity of the isotopologues of hydronium to variation of the electron-to-proton mass ratio

2011/03/31 by M. G. Kozlov, S. G. Porsev, D. Reimers
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Frequency and Time Standards #Ammonia #Analytical Chemistry (journal) #Astronomy #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Atomic and Molecular Physics #Atomic physics #Chemistry #Electron #Hydronium #Ion #Isotopologue #Microwave #Nuclear physics #Physics #Proton #Sensitivity (control systems) #Spectral line #astro-ph.CO #physics.atom-ph #physics.space-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.83.052123

published as Phys. Rev. A83:052123,2011 · 6 pages; v2: references corrected

arxiv created 2011/05/24 · openalex publication_date 2011/05/24 · arxiv updated 2011/06/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We study the sensitivity of the microwave and submillimeter transitions of the isotopologues of hydronium to the variation of the electron-to-proton mass ratio \ensuremathμ. These sensitivities are enhanced for the low-frequency mixed inversion-rotational transitions. The lowest frequency transition (6.6 GHz) takes place for isotopologue H₂DO⁺ and the respective sensitivity to \ensuremathμ variation is close to 200. This is about two orders of magnitude larger than the sensitivity of the inversion transition in ammonia, which is currently used for the search of \ensuremathμ variation in astrophysics.

Citations

• Dependence of nuclear magnetic moments on quark masses and limits on temporal variation of fundamental constants from atomic clock experiments
• Strong Limit on a Variable Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio from Molecules in the Distant Universe
• Methods for Constraining Fine Structure Constant Evolution with OH Microwave Transitions
• Hydrides in young stellar objects: Radiation tracers in a protostar-disk-outflow system
• Sensitivity of microwave spectra of deuterated ammonia to variation of electron-to-proton mass ratio
• Searching for chameleon-like scalar fields with the ammonia method