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Quantum Physics: Werner Heisenberg
The Wave Structure of Matter (WSM) explains Werner Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle as caused by incorrect 'particle' conception of Matter. Heisenberg Biography, Pictures, Quotes


Werner Heisenberg Introduction - Quantum Mechanics: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle - Werner Heisenberg Quotes - Biography Werner Heisenberg - Top of Page

Werner Heisenberg -  Light and matter are both single entities, and the apparent duality arises in the limitations of our language. Introduction: Werner Heisenberg

The problems of the particle and thus the resulting paradox of the particle / wave duality, have caused great confusion within quantum physics over the past seventy years, as both Werner Heisenberg and Paul Davies explain;

Both matter and radiation possess a remarkable duality of character, as they sometimes exhibit the properties of waves, at other times those of particles. Now it is obvious that a thing cannot be a form of wave motion and composed of particles at the same time - the two concepts are too different. (Heisenberg, On Quantum Mechanics, 1930)

The idea that something can be both a wave and a particle defies imagination, but the existence of this wave-particle duality is not in doubt. .. It is impossible to visualize a wave-particle, so don't try. ... The notion of a particle being everywhere at once is impossible to imagine. (Davies, On Quantum Physics, 1985)

The solution of the difficulty is that the two mental pictures which experiment lead us to form - the one of the particles, the other of the waves - are both incomplete and have only the validity of analogies which are accurate only in limiting cases. (Heisenberg, On Quantum Mechanics, 1930)

Light and matter are both single entities, and the apparent duality arises in the limitations of our language.
It is not surprising that our language should be incapable of describing the processes occurring within the atoms, for, as has been remarked, it was invented to describe the experiences of daily life, and these consist only of processes involving exceedingly large numbers of atoms. Furthermore, it is very difficult to modify our language so that it will be able to describe these atomic processes, for words can only describe things of which we can form mental pictures, and this ability, too, is a result of daily experience. Fortunately, mathematics is not subject to this limitation, and it has been possible to invent a mathematical scheme - the quantum theory - which seems entirely adequate for the treatment of atomic processes; for visualisation, however, we must content ourselves with two incomplete analogies - the wave picture and the corpuscular picture. (Heisenberg, On Quantum Physics, 1930)

The most difficult problem … concerning the use of the language arises in quantum physics. Here we have at first no simple guide for correlating the mathematical symbols with concepts of ordinary language: and the only thing we know from the start is the fact that our common concepts cannot be applied to the structure of the atoms. (Heisenberg, The Tao of Physics, p54)

The solution to this apparent paradox is to simply explain how the discrete particle properties of matter and light (quanta) are in fact caused by the Spherical Standing Wave Structure of Matter.


Werner Heisenberg Introduction - Quantum Mechanics: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle - Werner Heisenberg Quotes - Biography Werner Heisenberg - Top of Page

Quantum Physics: Werner Heisenberg: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Mechanics

Quantum Mechanics, from 1900 to 1930, revolutionised the foundations of our understanding of light and matter interactions. In 1900 Max Planck showed that light energy must be emitted and absorbed in discrete 'quanta' to explain blackbody radiation. Albert Einstein in 1905 showed that the energy of light is determined by its frequency, where E=hf. Then in the late 1920s, Louis de Broglie and Erwin Schrodinger introduced the concept of Standing Waves to explain these discrete frequency and energy states of light and matter (standing waves only exist at discrete frequencies and thus energy states).

At the same time that the wave properties of matter were discovered, two further discoveries were made by Werner Heisenberg and Max Born that also profoundly influenced (and confused) the future evolution of modern physics and quantum mechanics;

Quantum Physics: Werner Heisenberg: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle of Quantum Theory Werner Heisenberg developed the uncertainty principle which tells us that we (the observer) can never exactly know both the position and momentum of a particle. As every observation requires an energy exchange (photon) to create the observed 'data', some energy (wave) state of the observed object has to be altered. Thus the observation has a discrete effect on what we measure. i.e. We change the experiment by observing it! (A large part of their problem though was to continue to assume the existence of discrete particles and thus to try to exactly locate both their position and motion, which is impossible as there is no discrete particle!)
Further, because both the observed position and momentum of the particle can never be exactly known, theorists were left trying to determine the probability of where, for example, the 'particle' would be observed.

Quantum Physics: Max Born Quotes on the Probability Interpretation of Quantum Theory Max Born (1928) was the first to discover (by chance and with no theoretical foundation) that the square of the quantum wave equations (described by the Wave Structure of Matter as mass-energy density of space) could be used to predict the probability of where the particle would be found. Since it was impossible for both the waves and the particles to be real entities, it became customary to regard the waves as unreal probability waves and to maintain the belief in the 'real' particle. Unfortunately (profoundly) this maintained the belief in the particle/wave duality, in a new form where the 'quantum' scalar standing waves had become 'probability waves' for the 'real' particle.


Werner Heisenberg Introduction - Quantum Mechanics: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle - Werner Heisenberg Quotes - Biography Werner Heisenberg - Top of Page

Quantum Physics: Werner Heisenberg Quotes Werner Heisenberg Quotes

The problems of language here are really serious. We wish to speak in some way about the structure of the atoms … But we cannot speak about atoms in ordinary language. (Heisenberg, On Quantum Physics, The Tao of Physics, p53)

That every word or concept, clear as it may seem to be, has only a limited range of applicability. (Heisenberg, The Tao of Physics, p35)

(Werner Heisenberg, 1963) 'The problems of language here are really serious. We wish to speak in some way about the structure of the atoms .. But we cannot speak about atoms in ordinary language.'I remember discussions with Bohr which went through many hours till very late at night an ended almost in despair; and when at the end of the discussion I went alone for a walk in the neighbouring park I repeated to myself again and again the question: Can nature possibly be so absurd as it seemed to us in these atomic experiments? (Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy, 1963)

The world thus appears as a complicate tissue of events, in which connections of different kinds alternate or overlap or combine and thereby determine the texture of the whole. (Heisenberg, On Quantum Mechanics, Physics, and Philosophy, 1963)

Natural science, does not simply describe and explain nature; it is part of the interplay between nature and ourselves. (Heisenberg, On Quantum Mechanics, Physics and Philosophy, 1963)

What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning. (Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy, 1963)

Every word or concept, clear as it may seem to be, has only a limited range of applicability. (Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy, 1963)

The most difficult problem… concerning the use of the language arises in quantum theory. Here we have at first no simple guide for correlating the mathematical symbols with concepts of ordinary language: and the only thing we know from the start is the fact that our common concepts cannot be applied o the structure of the atoms. (Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy, 1963)

The violent reaction on the recent development of modern physics can only be understood when one realises that here the foundations of physics have started moving; and that this motion has caused the feeling that the ground would be cut from science. (Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy, 1963)

This application of the concept of statistical laws was finally formulated in the second half of the last century as the so-called statistical mechanics. In this theory, which is based on Newton's mechanics, the consequences that spring from an incomplete knowledge of a complicated mechanical system are investigated. Thus in principle it is not a renunciation of determinism.

The incomplete knowledge of a system must be an essential part of every formulation in quantum mechanics. Quantum theoretical laws must be of a statistical kind.

This state of affairs is best described by saying that all particles are basically nothing but different stationary states of one and the same stuff. Thus even the three basic building-stones have become reduced to a single one. There is only one kind of matter but it can exist in different discrete stationary conditions. (Atomic Physics and Causal Law, from The Physicist’s Conception of Nature, Werner Heisenberg, 1958)

(Werner Heisenberg, Quantum Mechanics) 'Natural science, does not simply describe and explain nature; it is part of the interplay between nature and ourselves.'Light and matter are both single entities, and the apparent duality arises in the limitations of our language. (Werner Heisenberg, on Quantum Physics)

Both matter and radiation possess a remarkable duality of character, as they sometimes exhibit the properties of waves, at other times those of particles. Now it is obvious that a thing cannot be a form of wave motion and composed of particles at the same time - the two concepts are too different. (Werner Heisenberg, on Quantum Mechanics, 1930)

The solution of the difficulty is that the two mental pictures which experiment lead us to form - the one of the particles, the other of the waves - are both incomplete and have only the validity of analogies which are accurate only in limiting cases. (Werner Heisenberg, on Quantum Mechanics, 1930)


Werner Heisenberg Introduction - Quantum Mechanics: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle - Werner Heisenberg Quotes - Biography Werner Heisenberg - Top of Page

Quantum Physics: Werner Heisenberg Quotes on Quantum Theory, Light, Matter and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle Werner Heisenberg Biography
(1901 - 1976)

Werner Karl Heisenberg (December 5, 1901 – February 1, 1976) was a celebrated German physicist and Nobel laureate, one of the founders of quantum mechanics. He was born in Würzburg, Germany and died in Munich. Werner Heisenberg was the head of Nazi Germany's nuclear energy program, though the nature of his work in this capacity has been heavily debated.

Quantum mechanics

Quantum Physics: Werner Heisenberg BiographyAs a student, he met Niels Bohr in Göttingen in 1922. A fruitful collaboration developed between the two.

Werner Heisenberg invented matrix mechanics, the first formalization of quantum mechanics in 1925. His uncertainty principle, discovered in 1927, states that the determination of both the position and momentum of a particle necessarily contains errors, the product of these being not less than a known constant. Together with Bohr, he would go on to formulate the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics.

He received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1932 "for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, inter alia, led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen".

During the early days of the Nazi regime in Germany, Heisenberg was harassed as a "White Jew" for teaching the theories of Albert Einstein in contrast with the Nazi-sanctioned Deutsche Physik movement. After a character investigation that Heisenberg himself instigated and passed, SS chief Heinrich Himmler banned any further political attacks on the physicist.

Work during the War

Nuclear fission was discovered in Germany in 1938. Werner Heisenberg remained in Germany during World War II, working under the Nazi regime. He led Germany's nuclear weapon/nuclear power program, but the extent of his cooperation in the development of weapons has been a subject of historical controversy.

Werner Heisenberg revealed the program's existence to Bohr at a conference in Copenhagen in September 1941. After the meeting, the lifelong friendship between Bohr and Heisenberg ended abruptly. Bohr later joined the Manhattan Project. Germany did not succeed in producing an atomic bomb.

It has been speculated that Werner Heisenberg had moral qualms and tried to slow down the project. Heisenberg himself attempted to paint this picture after the war, and Thomas Power's book Heisenberg's War and Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen adopted this interpretation. Part of this interpretation is based on the fact that Heisenberg did not champion the project to Albert Speer in a way which got it any attention or very much funding (which Samuel Goudsmit of the ALSOS project interpreted as being partially because Heisenberg himself was not fully aware of the feasibility of an atomic bomb). At best (for Heisenberg), he may have tried to hinder the German project; at worst, he may have just been ignorant of how to create an atomic bomb (it has been wryly commented that one can know either Heisenberg's morality in this respect, or his competence, but not both).

In February 2002, a letter written by Bohr to Heisenberg in 1957 (but never sent) emerged. In it, Bohr relates that Heisenberg, in their 1941 conversation, did not express any moral problems with the bomb making project, that Heisenberg had spent the past two years working almost exclusively on it, and that he was convinced that the atomic bomb would eventually decide the war. The context of this letter, however, was the publication of the journalist Robert Jungk's Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, which painted Heisenberg as having single-handedly and purposely derailed the German project. Jungk printed an excerpt from a personal letter from Heisenberg -- taken out of context -- to justify the claim (in the full letter, Heisenberg was more demure about whether he had taken a strong moral stance). Bohr was understandably flustered by this apparent claim as it did not match with his own perception of Heisenberg's war work at all.

Some historians of science take this as evidence that the previous interpretation of Heisenberg's resistance was wrong, but others have argued that Bohr profoundly misunderstood Heisenberg's intentions at the 1941 meeting, or an overly passionate reaction to Jungk's work. As a piece of evidence, it has had little effect on overall historical conclusions.

Help Humanity

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
(Mohandas Gandhi)

Albert Einstein"When forced to summarize the general theory of relativity in one sentence: Time and space and gravitation have no separate existence from matter. ... Physical objects are not in space, but these objects are spatially extended. In this way the concept 'empty space' loses its meaning. ... The particle can only appear as a limited region in space in which the field strength or the energy density are particularly high. ...
The free, unhampered exchange of ideas and scientific conclusions is necessary for the sound development of science, as it is in all spheres of cultural life. ... We must not conceal from ourselves that no improvement in the present depressing situation is possible without a severe struggle; for the handful of those who are really determined to do something is minute in comparison with the mass of the lukewarm and the misguided. ...
Humanity is going to need a substantially new way of thinking if it is to survive!" (Albert Einstein)


Biography: Geoffrey Haselhurst, Philosopher of Science, Theoretical Physics, Metaphysics, Evolution. Our world is in great trouble due to human behaviour founded on myths and customs that are causing the destruction of Nature and climate change. We can now deduce the most simple science theory of reality - the wave structure of matter in space. By understanding how we and everything around us are interconnected in Space we can then deduce solutions to the fundamental problems of human knowledge in physics, philosophy, metaphysics, theology, education, health, evolution and ecology, politics and society.

This is the profound new way of thinking that Einstein realised, that we exist as spatially extended structures of the universe - the discrete and separate body an illusion. This simply confirms the intuitions of the ancient philosophers and mystics.

Given the current censorship in physics / philosophy of science journals (based on the standard model of particle physics / big bang cosmology) the internet is the best hope for getting new knowledge known to the world. But that depends on you, the people who care about science and society, realise the importance of truth and reality.

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Just click on the Social Network links below, or copy a nice image or quote you like and share it. We have a wonderful collection of knowledge from the greatest minds in human history, so people will appreciate your contributions. In doing this you will help a new generation of scientists see that there is a simple sensible explanation of physical reality - the source of truth and wisdom, the only cure for the madness of man! Thanks! Geoff Haselhurst (Updated September, 2018)

A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. (Max Planck, 1920)

  
  
    
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