Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Uncertainty principle-can it be violated?
Does the topic seem unusual. Well I have had this doubt for years. Does Heisenberg's uncertainty principle depend on the frame of reference? Any book on Quantum mechanics will tell you NO. Now think about this. Think about the electron frame of reference. Or a frame of reference moving with the electron. To make the visual picture clear, imagine that the electron is a cute blonde driving alone in a convertible. You are stalking her in your dilapidated truck..Now you know almost exactly the position and momentum of the convertible. Or if you are lucky enuff to sit beside the blonde, you can perceive the position and momentum of the convertible absolutely....Where is the uncertainty????? I think I am wrong somewhere...Help me... [:)]
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5 comments:
First of all, what I think the heisenberg uncertainty principle is violated if the mass is at rest, I mean not moving. Actually in that case uncertainty is zero. So if one of the variable is itself constant at zero then uncertainty is also zero. This is true for uncertainty in E and H field also. When you are sitting with the blonde, in that frame the convertible has zero velocity. You are also moving with it. Hence it has zero momentum. Because in your frame it has zero velocity. In that Heisenberg uncertainty does not violate:). After all the whole Quantum Mechanics u can derive from that principle.....
What you pointed out is correct..Maybe being driven too much towards the blonde, I was unable to frame the problem correctly. Well, what i meant is that the position and momentum of an electron can be definite if you live in the regime of the electron i.e. if your time scales and length scales compare with that of the electron. For an intriguing problem in this regime, u will know exactly through which slit the electron has passed in a Double Slit experiment if you are sitting on the electron, yet I think the interference pattern should arise because you have disturbed nothing.
Hmm,
Interesting thought. But the statement that being in the reference frame of the electron you should know its absolute coordinates rely on the assumption that you know your own coordinates with absolute precision relative to some reference frame. The uncertainty beats you there.
@pechkak Absolutely true... but I see no reason for a fundamental limit to the precision.
@ arli, I found out that in literature no where is it said that Heisenberg's principle not valid for objects at rest. the principle is mathematically derived from the operator algebra and there is no such assumption required for the proof.
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