= Local tidal acceleration scaling
{title2=$a_{\mathrm{tidal}}=O(\mathcal R L)$}
The <geodesic deviation> equation makes the relative gravitational acceleration proportional to the separation $L$ and a typical <Riemann curvature tensor> component $\mathcal R$. Thus tidal acceleration vanishes as $L\to0$ at fixed bounded curvature. A uniform <electric field> can give different accelerations $qE/m$ at the same point, independently of separation. Relative tidal changes accumulated over a fixed long time need not vanish as a fraction of the initial separation; a local spacetime experiment must control its duration as well as its spatial size.
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