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Equation 1 · Part 6 · The Oldest Quantum-Gravity Experiment Is a Neutron Falling

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En=εn(ℏ2mg2g22mi)1/3E_n = \varepsilon_n \left(\frac{\hbar^2 m_{g}^2 g^2}{2 m_{i}}\right)^{1/3}
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What this part means

The expressions on both sides represent the same quantity under the stated assumptions.

Its job in the formula

The equals sign connects the complete expression on the left with the complete expression on the right. Both sides must have compatible units.

The passage around this formula

Above a perfectly reflecting mirror, a neutron’s Schrödinger equation is about as simple as a bound-state problem gets: an infinite wall at the mirror’s surface and a linear potential rising above it, gravity playing the same role a laser trap or a magnetic bottle plays in every other cold-atom experiment. The exact solutions are Airy functions, and the allowed energies are En=εn(ℏ2mg2g22mi)1/3E_n = \varepsilon_n \left(\frac{\hbar^2 m_{g}^2 g^2}{2 m_{i}}\right)^{1/3}. where εn\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 mgm_{g} , which sets how hard the potential pulls, and an inertial piece mim_{i} , which sets how the wavefunction spreads in…

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Learn the underlying idea

An equals sign says that the expression on its left and the expression on its right have the same value under the stated definitions and assumptions.

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Sources cited in the surrounding passage

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