Equation 1 · Part 9 · The Oldest Quantum-Gravity Experiment Is a Neutron Falling
superscript
superscript
What this part means
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.
Its job in the formula
A raised mark can be a power or an index. Its position and the surrounding notation determine which.
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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 . where 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 , which sets how hard the potential pulls, and an inertial piece , which sets how the wavefunction spreads in…
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
These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.