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European Journal of Physics

What is the uncertainty principle of non-relativistic quantum mechanics?

Peter J. Riggs

Published Feb 8, 2018• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract After more than ninety years of discussions over the uncertainty principle, there is still no universal agreement on what the principle states. The Robertson uncertainty relation (incorporating standard deviations) is given as the mathematical expression of the principle in most quantum mechanics textbooks. However, the uncertainty principle is not merely a statement of what any of the several uncertainty relations affirm. It is suggested that a better approach would be to present the uncertainty principle as a statement about the probability distributions of incompatible variables and the resulting restrictions on quantum states.

DOI
10.1088/1361-6404/aaadf3

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Abstract After more than ninety years of discussions over the uncertainty principle, there is still no universal agreement on what the principle states. The Robertson uncertainty relation (incorporating standard deviations) is given as the mathematical expression of the principle in most quantum mechanics textbooks. However, the uncertainty principle is not merely a statement of what any of the several uncertainty relations affirm. It is suggested that a better approach would be to present the uncertainty principle as a statement about the probability distributions of incompatible variables and the resulting restrictions on quantum states.
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which imposes intrinsic restrictions on our ability to predict the outcomes of incompatible quantum measurements to arbitrary precision, demonstrates one of the key differences between classical and quantum mechanics.The physical systems considered in the uncertainty principle are static in nature and described mathematically with a quantum state in a Hilbert space.However, many physical systems are dynamic in nature and described with the formalism of a quantum channel.In this paper, we show that the uncertainty principle can be reformulated to include process measurements that are performed on quantum channels.Since both the preparation of quantum states and the implementation of quantum measurements are themselves special cases of quantum channels, our formalism encapsulates the uncertainty principle in its utmost generality.More specifically, we obtain expressions that generalize the Maassen-Uffink uncertainty relation and the universal uncertainty relations from quantum states to quantum channels.
Given two or more non-commuting observables, it is generally not possible to simultaneously assign precise values to each. This quantum mechanical uncertainty principle is widely understood to be encapsulated by some form of uncertainty relation, expressing a trade-off between the standard deviations or other measures of uncertainty of two (or more) observables, resulting from their non-commutativity. Typically, such relations are coarse, and miss important features. It was not until very recently that a broader perspective on quantum uncertainty was envisaged and explored, one that utilises the notion of an uncertainty region. Here we review this new approach, illustrating it with pairs or triples of observables in the case of qubit and qutrit systems. We recall some of the shortcomings of traditional uncertainty relations, and highlight their inability to identify the full uncertainty region. These shortcomings suggest a precautionary note that, we surmise, ought to accompany the presentation of the uncertainty principle in introductory quantum mechanics courses.
The Heisenberg uncertainty postulates are a convenient way to describe the qualitative properties of quantum mechanics. The response from Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle is that one can create states that require a certain amount of momentum and position localization. The numerical quantities used by the old Newtonian mechanics, position, momentum, and energy are mere “shadows” of what nature describes: operators. The energy value contradicts the Newtonian notion of any energy level being necessary for a harmonic oscillator. The basic postulates of classical statistical mechanics are now applied to quantum statistical mechanics. In classical mechanics, the variables characterize a microstate that evolves according to the Hamiltonian equations. If the standard deviation relative to what we are interested in is very high, it is probably safe to use the expected value as a classical value. A quantum field theory is a relativistic invariant quantum theory where there is a particular form of quantity operators connected with the classical fields.
Most physics books do not reveal clearly how the Heisenberg uncertainty principle was derived. This uncertainty comes from the consequence of the wave-particle duality of matter giving statement that position and momentum cannot be measured in the same time. This article tries to reveal mathematics background behind the expression the Heisenberg uncertainty using supported mathematics background such as Fourier transform, Fourier transform integral, the probability of Gaussian distribution and it ends up with the expression of wave function which describe the localized particle giving relation Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
The Ehrenfest theorem and the Robertson uncertainty relation are well-known basic equations in quantum mechanics. However, there exist problematic cases, where the Ehrenfest theorem and the Robertson uncertainty relation are not correct. These cases occur when the azimuthal angle in polar or spherical coordinates is used within these equations. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss a generalized Ehrenfest theorem and a generalized uncertainty relation which are still valid for these cases. Hereby, we define and use a mathematical operation called expectation commutator.
In this paper, using two different formulations, we attempted to first provide an overview of mathematical interpretations of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. This was done in order to emphasise the mathematical justification for the uncertainty principle's existence. First, we went over in detail the matrix formulation found in Schrodinger's original paper on uncertainty. Next, we reviewed the mathematical proof of the uncertainty principle in a Fourier series formulation and examined the results. We attempted to provide a comprehensive overview of the modified forms of the uncertainty relation in the Quantum Gravitational, Relativistic, and Entropic domains along with other variants after realizing that the most well-known uncertainty relation is not universal. All of these concepts also demonstrate a great deal of potential for use in the emerging new technologies. Our goal was to gather all of these dispersed variations of the uncertainty principle in one location. The current state of these theories, as well as their applications and limitations, are thoroughly discussed.