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Equation 133 · The Clock That Comes Back Wrong by Exactly Its Mass

What does this equation mean?

Δτ≈g Δz T/c2\Delta\tau\approx g\,\Delta z\,T/c^2

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This equation gives an approximation: it relates the quantities while allowing an approximation. Read the equation part by part below; each part has a contextual explanation and a link to its mathematical background.

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Δτ\Delta\tau

Symbol Δτ

Δτ is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.

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gg

Symbol g

g is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.

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Δz\Delta z

Symbol Δ z

Δ z is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.

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TT

Symbol T

T is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.

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c2c^2

Symbol c^2

The square of c: multiply c by itself.

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≈

≈

Approximately equal to; the equality is not exact.

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change

change

Capital delta attached to a quantity marks a difference between two values of that quantity; the article’s sign convention determines the order.

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superscript

superscript

A raised number can be a power. When it is a label or bound, it selects a case or the upper limit of a sum; the formula’s structure distinguishes these uses.

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How to interpret it

Its accuracy depends on the assumptions and range of use described in the article.

What the article says around this equation

No experiment has run the differential two-height, two-internal-state protocol at the meter-and-second scale used illustratively above; it remains a proposal, not a result [ 10 , 11 ] . What existing data already constrain is the space this construction is allowed to occupy. Dual-species atom-interferometric tests of the weak equivalence principle have matched the free-fall trajectories of different atomic species to extraordinary precision by actively canceling the very laser/recoil terms this paper identifies as confounds, which is direct evidence that no large anomalous mass-dependence is hiding in the dominant phase term this construction must avoid [ 12 ] . Separately, ordinary…
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No experiment has run the differential two-height, two-internal-state protocol at the meter-and-second scale used illustratively above; it remains a proposal, not a result [ 10 , 11 ] . What existing data already constrain is the space this construction is allowed to occupy. Dual-species atom-interferometric tests of the weak equivalence principle have matched the free-fall trajectories of different atomic species to extraordinary precision by actively canceling the very laser/recoil terms this paper identifies as confounds, which is direct evidence that no large anomalous mass-dependence is hiding in the dominant phase term this construction must avoid [ 12 ] . Separately, ordinary macroscopic clock comparisons across height differences already confirm the leading coefficient of gravitational redshift to high precision through completely classical (non-interferometric) means, constraining Δ\Deltaτ\tau≈\approx g\,Δ\Delta z\,T/c2c^2 itself rather than the interferometric phase built from it.

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