An investigation by a team of researchers at the Tokyo Skytree Observatory has yielded results and proved that time passes 4 nanoseconds faster per day at the top as compared to the bottom. This team was head by Hidetoshi Katori of the University of Tokyo, who used precisely optical lattice clocks, that only go out of sync by one second every 16 billion (or 16000000000) years, a period of time longer than the current age of the universe (though to be between 13.8 to 14.5 billion years).
These clocks were miniaturized to a transportable form and then placed at the base (3.6 m above sea level) and at the observatory (456.3 m above sea level) of the world’s tallest broadcasting tower, the Tokyo Skytree, standing 634 meters tall. The clocks, which measure time-based on the vibration of numerous strontium atoms in a laser-generated lattice, proved that on a weekly average, time at the top passes 4 nanoseconds/day faster than at the base.
These results are thought to be extremely reliable. The clocks used are 1000 times more precise than the one used as an international timekeeping standard and are thought to have yielded measurements comparable to the best space-based measurements taken to prove the theory. This achievement is a first for terrestrial experimentation and puts Katori closer to receiving the Nobel Prize.
Krishaang Kohli
Grade XII, Manav Rachna International School, Gurgaon
Krishaang is a curious and ambitious young man who wants to make a change in the world and leave his mark. He is a published writer and has taken part in and won many debates and group discussion competitions at all levels (from school to international).
