uncertainty principle
3
9.2
- noun
- /ʌnˈsɜrˌtənsi ˈprɪnsəpəl/
- Specialized
:
principio de incertidumbre
- Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, formulated by the theoretical physicist in 1927, is one of the cornerstones of quantum mechanics.
- the Heisenberg uncertainty principle
- limits of the uncertainty principle
That's part of the uncertainty principle, but you can choose which half at will.
- That's part of the uncertainty principle, but you can choose which half at will.
- You know, it's the uncertainty principle at work.
- All right, last remark, last remark about uncertainty is the uncertainty principle.
- OK, that's essentially Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.
- So it's grown out of the Schrodinger's equation or Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, all the stuff of the early quantum mechanics.
Examples
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The uncertainty principle is fundamental to quantum mechanics, illustrating the limitations of measuring certain pairs of properties simultaneously.
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In particular, the uncertainty principle that states that you could have an uncertainty on the energy and together with an uncertainty in time.
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But then the uncertainty principle came along and changed everything.
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Call it an uncertainty principle, if you will.
Academic text (2005) -
The question is, can you defeat the uncertainty principle in the following way?
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One should not expect to be able to violate the uncertainty principle.
Academic text (2006) -
Quantum theory, and specifically Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, provides a natural explanation for how that energy may have come out of nothing.
Academic text (2002) -
Werner Heisenberg enshrined this concept as his uncertainty principle, and the subatomic world makes little sense without it.
Academic text (2004) -
Thus, while we cannot predict the precise location and speed of the particle (this is forbidden by Heisenberg's "uncertainty principle"), we can calculate the probabilities for any values.
Academic text (2000) -
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle explains that you cannot precisely measure both the position and momentum of a particle at the same time.
Synonyms
A rule in physics that you cannot know a particle's position and how fast it moves at the same time
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is transparently built from 'uncertainty' + 'principle', so a learner will infer it refers to a foundational rule concerning uncertainty; however, the precise technical content (that certain pairs of physical properties cannot both be known to arbitrary precision in quantum mechanics) is specialized and not derivable from the constituents alone. This makes the expression partially predictable but requiring domain knowledge for full understanding.
Etymology
Uncertainty principle comes from a discovery by the scientist Werner Heisenberg about very small particles. He found that when you try to measure where it is you make how fast it moves unclear, and the other way round. So the name means 'you cannot know both things exactly at the same time'.