Sensitivity of microwave transition in H2O2 to variation of the electron-to-proton mass ratio

TL;DR

This paper estimates how sensitive microwave transitions in H2O2 are to changes in the electron-to-proton mass ratio, highlighting its potential as a probe for fundamental constant variations in space.

Contribution

It provides the first estimation of sensitivity coefficients of H2O2 microwave transitions to mu-variation, showing high sensitivity comparable to methanol.

Findings

Largest sensitivity coefficient is 37 for 14.8 GHz transition.

H2O2 transitions have higher sensitivity than ammonia tunneling transitions.

H2O2 can be a promising probe for fundamental constant variation.

Abstract

Recent observation of several microwave transitions in H2O2 from the interstellar medium [Astron. Astrophys., 531, L8 (2011)] raised interest to this molecule as yet another sensitive probe of the tentative variation of the electron-to-proton mass ratio mu. We estimate sensitivity coefficients of the microwave transitions in H2O2 to mu-variation. The largest coefficient for 14.8 GHz transition is equal to 37, which is comparable to highest sensitivities in methanol and an order of magnitude higher than sensitivity of the tunneling transition in ammonia.