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Equation 10 · Part 2 · The Corner of the Equivalence Principle No Experiment Has Touched

subscript

η^coh\hat\eta_{coh}
subscript

What this part means

The lower label selects a particular version, component, or indexed member of the quantity. For example, x₀ and xₜ can be values at different positions.

Its job in the formula

A subscript distinguishes a version, component, step, or member of a quantity. It does not automatically mean multiplication.

The passage around this formula

ηcl\eta_{cl} is an ordinary number, the same for every state — MICROSCOPE’s slot. η^diag\hat\eta_{diag} is diagonal in the internal energy basis: it can make a clock in one internal state fall differently from the same species in another, which is what a clock-redshift test or a test comparing atoms prepared in different hyperfine states actually probes. η^coh\hat\eta_{coh} is off-diagonal in that same basis — it couples the coherences between internal states to free fall, so it only shows up in an experiment that keeps a system in superposition of two internal states long enough for gravity to act on the superposition itself, rather than on each state separately. η^sup\hat\eta_{sup} depends on the system’s…

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Learn the underlying idea

A subscript is a label attached below a symbol. It often selects a time step, component, category, or member of a sequence.

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Sources cited in the article section

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