American Journal of Physics

A historical derivation of Heisenberg’s uncertainty relation is flawed

John H. Marburger

Published May 12, 2008• 2 citations

Abstract

Kennard’s 1927 demonstration of the uncertainty relation, cited by Heisenberg as the earliest derivation using the formalism of quantum theory, invokes a trial function that severely limits the class of wave functions for which the uncertainty relation is shown to be valid.

DOI: 10.1119/1.2870628

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