← All parts of this equation

Equation 73 · Part 2 · The Bend an Elevator Cannot Fake

Symbol τ

dτ=U(Z) dtd\tau = U(Z)\,dt
τ\tau

What this part means

τ is part of the quantity the equation computes from the expression on the right.

Its job in the formula

τ is part of the quantity the equation computes from the expression on the right.

The passage around this formula

This is an exact solution describing flat Minkowski spacetime in non-inertial coordinates, not a weak-field approximation. A clock held static at height Z has dτ\tau = U(Z)\,dt exactly, so two such clocks compare frequencies as ν2\nu_2/ν1\nu_1 = U(Z1Z_1)/U(Z2Z_2) to all orders — the same exact redshift formula an accelerating rocket produces for light climbing or falling inside it. The node potential is ϕ(Z)\phi(Z) = ln⁡\ln U(Z) = ln⁡(1+gZ/c2)\ln(1 + gZ/c^2) , and its first derivative at Z=0 is ϕ\phi' = g/c2c^2 : a nonzero, entirely real, measurable slope. A network of clocks bolted to this elevator’s walls would report exactly the nonzero edge data a network in a genuine gravitational field reports at the same order. If…

Read this part in the article →

Learn the underlying idea

A variable is a named place for a value. Its letter is a local label: x can mean position in one formula and a data point in another.

Open the illustrated variables: a letter stands for a value guide →

See this notation across published equations →

Sources cited in the article section

These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.