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The article's introduction explains the uncertainty principle as the observer effect, where the process of measurement changes a system. Which it's not, quantum
by mathw 10y ago
The article's introduction explains the uncertainty principle as the observer effect, where the process of measurement changes a system. Which it's not, quantum uncertainty is a fundamental consequence of the underlying physics, it has nothing to do with influence from the measurement process.
And that's about as far as I understand it. The whole thing seems intended to make my primitive brain hurt. But any experiment which starts off by cooling things down to "a few microkelvin" definitely has my appreciation.
- parenthephobia 10y ago> Quantum uncertainty is a fundamental consequence of the underlying physics, it has nothing to do with influence from the measurement process. If you can prove that, your Nobel prize awaits. :) The truth is that nobody knows why there is quantum uncertainty. The common belief is that the uncertainty is "real", but non-local hidden variable theories have not been proven to be impossible. (In a recent survey of physicists, 47% favoured explicitly real uncertainty - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1612.00676.pdf https://arxiv.org/pdf/1612.00676.pdf)