A team of scientists has for the first time measured time dilation at the millimeter level, an observation made by Albert Einstein in his theory of general relativity postulated more than a century ago.
Time dilation indicates that gravity affects to a level imperceptible to humans the time measurement of two clocks placed at different heights in a gravitational field.
These variations have been measured with atomic clocks on several occasions, however, now a group of researchers from the JILA Institute and the University of Colorado at Boulder have quantified the time dilation in two atomic clocks separated by just a millimeter of distance.
The measurements, reported in a paper published in the journal Nature, were made with an instrument known as a lattice-optical atomic clock, which experts say can measure time differences with a precision equivalent to losing one second every 300 billion years. .
Such precision will allow scientists working with quantum physics to better understand the effects of gravitational fields on matter.
“Most importantly, we will be able to potentially connect quantum physics with gravity, for example by testing complex physics when particles are distributed in different places in space-time.” Jun Ye highlighted in a statementresearcher at the JILA Institute.
According to experts, the millimeter measurement could also have implications for the manufacture of geolocation instruments, commonly known as GPS, and also for the manufacture of much more precise watches.
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