Equation 11 · Part 3 · Decoherence: The Quiet Selection That Makes the World Look Solid

Symbol Δ x^2

t \sim 1/(\Lambda\, \Delta x^2)

\Delta x^2

What this part means

Δ $x^2$ is squared: multiply the underlying quantity by itself. The square is a mathematical operation, not a second independent variable.

Its job in the formula

Δ $x^2$ is squared: multiply the underlying quantity by itself. The square is a mathematical operation, not a second independent variable.

Full expressionSymbol Δ x^2Article meaning

The passage around this formula

Reading a decoherence time off this table only requires the exponent above: a superposition separated by $\Delta$ x decays with a characteristic time t $\sim$ 1/( $\Lambda$ \, $\Delta$ $x^2$ ) . Take the largest grain delocalized over roughly its own diameter, $\Delta$ x $\approx$ 10^{-3} centimetres, and the numbers in the first column turn into times measured in seconds only in the single, almost pathologically clean case of the cosmic background radiation acting alone — about…

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Learn the underlying idea

An exponent tells how a base is used in multiplication. In x³, x is the base and 3 is the exponent: x³ = x × x × x.

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Sources cited in the surrounding passage

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