Equation 1 · Part 5 · The Oldest Quantum-Gravity Experiment Is a Neutron Falling

Symbol m_i

E_n = \varepsilon_n \left(\frac{\hbar^2 m_{g}^2 g^2}{2 m_{i}}\right)^{1/3}

m_{i}

What this part means

the inertial piece.

Its job in the formula

$m_i$ occurs below the fraction bar. The quantity above the bar is divided by this expression; zero is excluded as a denominator.

Full expressionSymbol m_iArticle meaning

Where the article explains it

where $\varepsilon_n$ is the n -th negative zero of the Airy function — 2.338, 4.088, 5.521, 6.787, and so on — and the mass has been split deliberately into a gravitational piece $m_{g}$ , which sets how hard the potential pulls, and an inertial piece $m_{i}$ , which sets how the wavefunction spreads in response.

The passage around this formula

…-th negative zero of the Airy function — 2.338, 4.088, 5.521, 6.787, and so on — and the mass has been split deliberately into a gravitational piece $m_{g}$ , which sets how hard the potential pulls, and an inertial piece $m_{i}$ , which sets how the wavefunction spreads in response. Nesvizhevsky and collaborators’ 2005 refinement of the original measurement, using a position-sensitive track detector to scan the standing-wave density directly above the mirror rather than only the transmitted flux, pinned down the…

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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 surrounding passage

[2] Study of the neutron quantum states in the gravity field ↗

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