Heisenberg's uncertainity princple

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, focusing on finding resources suitable for a year 12 assignment. Participants explore various types of resources, including books, articles, and online references, while considering the complexity of the material in relation to the educational level of the requester.

Discussion Character

  • Homework-related
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant requests comprehensive resources on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle for a year 12 assignment.
  • Another participant suggests that the requester may be looking for a cultural overview rather than a technical derivation, recommending the book "Quantum" by Manjit Kumar and Wikipedia as starting points.
  • A third participant provides multiple links to resources, including Wikipedia and various academic papers, emphasizing the statistical nature of measurements in quantum mechanics as described by Albert Messiah.
  • Discussion of a new ensemble interpretation of quantum mechanics proposed by Lee Smolin, which suggests that the ensemble associated with a quantum state exists non-locally.
  • A mention of ZapperZ's blog that addresses misconceptions about the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
  • Another participant references a lecture series by Richard Feynman on Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) that includes discussions on the Heisenberg principle, noting its usefulness for A-level students.
  • A final request for more specific sources that explain the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle in simpler terms suitable for grade 12 students.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of perspectives on the types of resources available, with no consensus on a single source that meets the requester's needs for simplicity and clarity.

Contextual Notes

Some participants highlight the complexity of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and the need for resources that match the educational level of the requester, indicating that many available sources may be too advanced.

106267
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i'm been searching the internet for resources regarding Heisenberg's uncertainity princple for my year 12 assignment, however, have can't find any clear sources. Would someone please suggest a comprehensive sources thank you
 
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What kind of resources do you require? I'm guessing you aren't wanting a derivation from principles of quantum mechanics, but perhaps a more cultural overview?

If that's the case then Quantum, by Manjit Kumar is a good book. Otherwise, have a look on wikipedia under Uncerternty Principle and see what it is you're interested in and follow the references there.
 
Many sources listed here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heisenberg_uncertainty

[This has a good discussion followed by a lot of references.]


Albert Messiah, Quantum Mechanics, p119
“When carrying out a measurement of position or momentum on an individual system represented by psi, no definite prediction can be made about the result. The predictions defined here apply to a very large number [N] of equivalent systems independent of each other each system being represented by the same wave function [psi]. If one carries out a position measurement on each one of them, The probability density P[r], or momentum density, gives the distribution of the [N] results of measurements in the limit where the number N of members of this statistical ensemble approaches infinity.”

: http://arxiv.org/abs/1008.4591 ]


http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0609185


http://tf.nist.gov/general/pdf/1283.pdf



http://arxiv.org/abs/arXiv:1104.2822 Lee Smolin
A new ensemble interpretation of quantum mechanics is proposed according to which the ensemble associated to a quantum state really exists: it is the ensemble of all the systems in the same quantum state in the universe…The problem is that Smolin’s real ensemble is non-local.


ZapperZ explains this in his blog Misconception of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.


the eigenstates corresponding to the respective measurement operators are incompatible. As a result, the system cannot simultaneously have both a definite value of qj and a definite value of pj. See Fourier Transforms and Uncertainty for more on this topic.

(mathpages: http://www.mathpages.com/home/kmath523/kmath523.htm)

I'd also suggest you search these forums for discussions where you will find careful dissection about what HUPis and what it is NOT...
 
Part of the lecture series by Feynman on QED delves into the Heisenberg principle. They have been turned into an accessible set of books by an author, but they are essentially transcripts.

I used them during my A-levels and found it useful
 
any more specific sources which explain Heisenberg uncertainty principle in a more simple manner? (as in grade 12 standard)
 

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