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Physics World

Too confident about uncertainty

Robert P Crease

Published Dec 1, 2001• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Werner Heisenberg has a lot to answer for. As one of the founders of quantum mechanics, he left a huge legacy to physics. As the inventor of the uncertainty principle, he also left a huge legacy outside physics. Albert Einstein may be more widely recognized by the public – and his theory of relativity often appears in popular culture – but it is Heisenberg who has had the greater impact on public discourse.

DOI
10.1088/2058-7058/14/12/18

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Werner Heisenberg has a lot to answer for. As one of the founders of quantum mechanics, he left a huge legacy to physics. As the inventor of the uncertainty principle, he also left a huge legacy outside physics. Albert Einstein may be more widely recognized by the public – and his theory of relativity often appears in popular culture – but it is Heisenberg who has had the greater impact on public discourse.
Of Werner Heisenberg's many contributions, two stand out. The first was matrix mechanics. It was the first form of what is called “the new quantum mechanics,” as compared to the “old quantum mechanics” of Bohr. Bohr's old quantum theory talked of electron orbits; these were themselves unmeasurable. Heisenberg found a way of putting what was measurable into a sort of table, called a matrix. He also recognized that measurement of the same properties, such as electron spin, could give different results. This led to his second great achievement, his uncertainty principle. Certain pairs of measurements, such as position and momentum, could not be simultaneously measured to any desired degree of accuracy. The more accurately measured the one, the less can be known about the other. This is not an experimental error. It is fundamental. Heisenberg is associated with another uncertainty: his role in attempting to build a German atomic bomb. What he actually did or did not do is still a matter of controversy.
In contrast to many other physical theories, quantum mechanics is generally regarded as above any theory we have ever had and perhaps the best candidate for a universal and fundamental description of objective realty as such. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle is not the only aspect of the conceptual difference between quantum and classical physics but is certainly one of the most important and famous aspects of quantum mechanics. As we will see, quantum mechanics as a theory and especially Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle challenges not only our imagination but violates some fundamental principles of classical logic as such. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle is refuted.
This paper is an annotated bibliography of popular works on quantum mechanics and the Heisenberg uncertainty prinicple written by physicsts. The writings of 30 physicists are represented, beginning with the works of founders such as Planck, Einstein, Bohr, and Heisenberg, and ending with those of such contemporary figures as David Bohm, John S. Bell, Roger Penrose, and Stephen Hawking. In addition to the bibliographic annotations, this paper also includes an introduction, a brief historical review, and a description of importance dictionary, encyclopedia, and Internet resources.
COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF THE HEISENBERG PRINCIPLE I T HE Heisenberg uncertainty principle, like its rival theory of relativity/ has been one of the truly crucial phases in the physics of our day~ It did not, like the discovery of a new element or the Maxwell equations, simply indent the story of classical physics for a new paragraph. It was not only a new chapter but a new book. Detected, in the words of Heisenberg himself, when physics became self-critical, the principle is a statement of what is observable-like its contemporary, the theory of relativity. It was anew advance in method, so revolutionary indeed that physics has virtually lost meaning as content and become synonymous , as logical empiricism amply indicates, with mere rules of procedure. That science is developing into a system of logic, combining the Cartesian stress on clearness with the Kantian regulative idea, actually confirms a contention of traditional philosophy. It reveals that once we deny the colors and sounds, the life, lights, and purpose in our universe-as pure scientific method actually does-we are fated to deny much more than quality. Quality is in the order of form, substance, and being. The moment quality is banished from the real world, by the same 1 That all is not as peaceful and unified in physics as the layman sometimes believes can be seen in the deep cleavage between quantum and relativity mechanics. For the first, the exact specification of space (position) and time (velocity, momentum) has no meaning, while in relativity theory such exact description is the only meaning that can be had. Despite the efforts 'of leading physicists, including Dirac, to unite the two theories, the contradiction is so profound that one of these systems must eventually be abandoned or, more probably, both of them will be superseded. The recent work .of Schroedinger and apparently also of Einstei~ himself are directed to extend the general theory of relativity, making the current theory a special case just as Newtonian physics is a special case of present relativity mechanics. 474 COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF THE HEISENBERG PRINCIPLE 475 decree being itself-because it is an immediate, non-inertial (formal) thing like quality-is driven into its only possible exile, nothingness. It is not surprising then that, after modern physics· has finished its task, the universe should not only be emptied of its lights, its fragrance, its sweetness, and its music but should also be without being and without existence. The uncertainty principle has been much debated in modern thought. Its impact has brought a sad end to the pride of 19th century science since it prevents a complete knowledge of anything at all by shading into the darkness at least one of the two major factors that specify it. Shortly after the principle was born it was hailed by various authors as a proof of free will, of the possibility of religion, and of non-mechanistic concepts in biology. In a more consistent and challenging sense, it has often been taken to refute what the physicist calls causality and what the philosopher calls the order of nature. The fact of the matter is that if the senses alone supply knowledge, truly only one thing at a time can be apprehended. If Hume was right in philosophy, so is Heisenberg. But when sensism yields to an intellectual insight into reality, it is easy to refute the scientist's claim to dethrone the doctrine of nature's order which he could never detect, even in classical physics, by pointerreadings .2 But whatever the fate of the Heisenberg principle in cosmology , it has had a most fruitful career in the field of physics. To Heisenberg himself, the principle was a point of departure for an original development of quantum mechanics based on the " uncertainty " of position and momentum,.: 3 If, for example, measurements are made, under a microscope, of the position of an electron, the photon (light-particle), which impinges on the eye and thus conveys the required knowledge to the physicist, has had to collide with the electron, thus imparting an impact known as the Compton recoil. When • For ·a discussion of the order of nature, cf. J. Marling: The...