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

Peter J. Riggs*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    2 Citations (Scopus)

    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.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number035409
    JournalEuropean Journal of Physics
    Volume39
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 9 Apr 2018

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