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Sep. 24, 2010
Testing Relativity With Better Clocks
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| With a precise enough clock, it's possible to test the time-dilation effects predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity -- without a space ship. Writing this week in the journal Science, researchers at NIST describe their experiments using two highly-precise aluminum ion atomic clocks, linked by an optical fiber. Due to the precision of the clocks, they were able to observe differences in the passage of time over a height difference of just 33 centimeters, or at speeds as low as 20 miles per hour. We'll talk about the work and what it shows. |
Produced by Christopher Intagliata, Associate Senior Producer
Guests
-
Thomas O'Brian
Chief, Time & Frequency Division
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Boulder, Colorado
RELATED READING
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory
by Albert Einstein
From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time
by Sean Carroll
About Time: Einstein's Unfinished Revolution
by Paul Davies
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