Analysis of Molecular Hydrogen Absorption toward QSO B0642-5038 for a Varying Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio

Rovibronic molecular hydrogen (H$_2$) transitions at redshift $z_{\rm abs} \simeq 2.659$ towards the background quasar B0642$-$5038 are examined for a possible cosmological variation in the proton-to-electron mass ratio, $μ$. We utilise an archival spectrum from the Very Large Telescope/Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph with a signal-to-noise ratio of $\sim$35 per 2.5-km$\,$s$^{-1}$ pixel at the observed H$_2$ wavelengths (335--410 nm). Some 111 H$_2$ transitions in the Lyman and Werner bands have been identified in the damped Lyman $α$ system for which a kinetic gas temperature of $\sim$84 K and a molecular fraction $\log f = -2.18\pm0.08$ is determined. The H$_2$ absorption lines are included in a comprehensive fitting method, which allows us to extract a constraint on a variation of the proton-electron mass ratio, $Δμ/μ$, from all transitions at once. We obtain $Δμ/μ= (17.1 \pm 4.5_{\rm stat} \pm3.7_{\rm sys})\times10^{-6}$. However, we find evidence that this measurement has been affected by wavelength miscalibration errors recently identified in UVES. A correction based on observations of objects with solar-like spectra gives a smaller $Δμ/μ$ value and contributes to a larger systematic uncertainty: $Δμ/μ= (12.7 \pm 4.5_{\rm stat} \pm4.2_{\rm sys})\times10^{-6}$.

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