The Uncertainty principle In 1927, Werner Heisenberg was working at Bohr’s research institute in Copenhagen, Denmark. Neil Bohr and Heisenberg were working closely together on theoretical investigations of quantum theory and nature of physics. Heisenberg was left back at the centre alone when Bohr was away skiing. At this point, Heisenberg realized the limits of physics and physical reality. He realized that it in the act of observing, the observer somehow, manages to alter the reality. This observation of his came to be known as the very famous “Uncertainty Principle”. At the sub-atomic level, measuring the properties of a small particle like that of an electron needs a measuring instrument. The measuring instrument is usually light or …show more content…
After James Chadwick’s discovery of the neutron, Heisenberg developed a 3-part article on the model of the nucleus in 1932. This popularly came to be known as the neutron-proton model of the nucleus. Part I of the paper established a theoretical apparatus which was used to develop which was used to develop various parts of nuclear semantics. Part II and III helped solve stability problems of the nucleus using the method of self-consistent fields. His papers threw light on that fact that the nucleus consisted of heavy nucleons. These nucleons can be described as a quantum mechanical system according to existing theory. These papers were also significant in the sense that they introduced the first theory of nuclear exchange forces which bind the nucleons. It also helped in the invention of the nuclear isotopic …show more content…
He also observed the motion of the charged ball. For this he employed classical mechanics of Newton. Following this he considered the quantum properties of observed light and even reinterpreted classical formulas of motion. These classical formulas were used to find out observed frequencies and intensities. To obtain the intensity, an unfamiliar rule of multiplying the two amplitudes of oscillation was noticed because normal multiplication gave the wrong result. If two variables can be expressed as Fourier series, consisting of amplitudes A(n,k) and B(k,m), where n,m,,k are integers, then multiplying the 2 amplitudes results in an infinite sum over all values of k. The multiplication of the 2 amplitudes will give the intensity. The unfamiliar rule is as follows: C(n,m) = k A(n,k) B (k,m) Commutation law’s invalidity was proved to be invalid because of the above puzzling result. This implies that A times B does not equal B times A in quantum mechanics. If momentum p and position q of a particle was represented by the Fourier series, then a differential expression for p*q (of the old quantum theory) now became a difference expression. In the difference expression p*q did not equal q*p (pq ≠ qp). There is a famous commutation relation for the quantization condition that is on the basis of quantum mechanics: k p(n,k) q(k,n) - q(n,k) p(k,n) = h