First Cosmological Constraints on the Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio From Observations of Rotational Transitions of Methanol

We have used the Australia Telescope Compact Array to measure the absorption from the 2 0 → 3 −1 E 12.2 GHz transition of methanol toward the z = 0.89 lensing galaxy in the PKS B1830−211 gravitational lens system. Comparison of the velocity of the main absorption feature with the published absorption spectrum from the 1 0 → 2 −1 E transition of methanol shows that they differ by −0.6 ± 1.6 km s −1 . We can use these observations to constrain the changes in the proton-to-electron mass ratio μ from z = 0.89 to the present to 0.8 ± 2.1 × 10 −7 . This result is consistent, and of similar precision to recent observations at z = 0.68 achieved through comparison of a variety of rotational and inversion transitions, and approximately a factor of two better than previous constraints obtained in this source. Future more sensitive observations that incorporate additional rotational methanol transitions offer the prospect of improving current results by a factor of 5–10.