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Are Quantum Uncertainty and Randomness Just Limits of Our Measurement?

In summary, the article explores the concepts of quantum uncertainty and randomness, questioning whether these phenomena are inherent properties of nature or simply limitations of our measurement techniques. It discusses how quantum mechanics challenges classical notions of determinism and highlights the implications of measurement on our understanding of reality. The text suggests that while quantum randomness appears fundamental, it may also reflect our incomplete knowledge and the constraints of observation in the quantum realm.
  • #1
Audacity Dan
People have stated things to the effect that the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and, I think, other principles and data from Quantum Physics, shows underlying chaos and acausal nature to the universe.Here is my question: Are the HUP and other quantum uncertainty not reflective of acausal randomness, but just our inability to detect/predict? That seems to be the more likely case to me, but I would like to hear from some more knowledgable people. Our inability to measure/predict need not have anything to do with randomness. It could be that we can't and never will be able to know momentum and position without the inverse relation of certainty, but that there are still causal relations among all processes.-----------------------------------------------------Don't ever let anybody mess with your amygdala. You might start humping a chair.
 
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  • #2
I am not actually sure because what I understand is, the uncertainty principle tells us that we cannot know with unlimted accuracy the position and momentum of a particle. Because to locate a particle exactly, an observer mjuust bounce light, in the form of photon off the particle. When light is bounced off, the position of the particle is changed so you cannot know where exactly a particle is. Heisenberg gave a theoretical limit to the precision (planck's constant) with which a particle's momentum and position can be measured simultaneously, but more accurately the one is determined, the more uncertainty there is in the other. So it is just our inability to detect.
 
  • #3
quote:Because to locate a particle exactly, an observer mjuust bounce light, in the form of photon off the particle. When light is bounced off, the position of the particle is changed so you cannot know where exactly a particle is.That's an example that's commonly used to explain the Uncertainty Prinicple in simple, easy to visualize terms, but it it misleading. The HUP is an innate property of the universe, a particle with precise momentum and positiondoes not exist. The Uncertainty Principle is not a lack of ability to detect, rather it is a lack of something to be detected.~TOG__________________________I knew it! Not knew it in the sense that I had the slightest idea, but I knew there was something I didn't know!
 
  • #4
In the Copenhagen Interpretation, uncertainty is an innate property of the Universe. Particles don't have position and momentum until measured.In Bohm's interpretation, IIRC, all particles have definite position and momentum, so the Uncertainty Principle is a constraint on what can be measured. Causality is saved, but at the price of having a weird nonlocal thingy.In the Many Worlds Interpretation, randomness is only the subjective randomness of not knowing what world you're in. As I understand it, uncertainty is there because everything is a wave, and waves don't have a precise position or momentum. Causality is saved again.And so on.So, your question comes down to, "are there other interpretations of QM than the Copenhagen Interpretation?"The answer is yes, and people should read up on them before trying to shock others with weird quantum philosophy.http://www.hedweb.com/manworld.htmhttp://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-bohm/
 
  • #5
Greetings !quote:Originally posted by Audacity Dan:People have stated things to the effect that the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and, I think, other principles and data from Quantum Physics, shows underlying chaos and acausal nature to the universe.Here is my question: Are the HUP and other quantum uncertainty not reflective of acausal randomness, but just our inability to detect/predict? That seems to be the more likely case to me, but I would like to hear from some more knowledgable people. Our inability to measure/predict need not have anything to do with randomness. It could be that we can't and never will be able to know momentum and position without the inverse relation of certainty, but that there are still causal relations among all processes.-----------------------------------------------------Don't ever let anybody mess with your amygdala. You might start humping a chair.Congrratulations ! That's what Einstein thought -"God does not play dice." he said, and newtheories like SST may confirm his firm belief.Live long and prosper.
 
  • #6
I thought that it could also be this:All "particles" are really waves. Since momentum and position are properties of particles (and not waves?), they could be meaningless concepts until we take measurements and see how waves affect things. Causality would still be intact; it's just that our perceptions of what momentum and position on a quantum scale are need to be reconceived.-----------------------------------------------------Don't ever let anybody mess with your amygdala. You might start humping a chair.
 

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