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Abstract:No matter how accurately one tried to measure the classical quantities of position and momentum， there would always be an uncertainty in the measurement. The Heisenberg Principle of Uncertainty is one of the most significant changes in our comprehension of the universe， it inspired people once again to think the unthinkable， and challenge the very foundations of subjects in both research and educational fields.

Key words:uncertainty Heisenberg inspiration education

Ⅰ.Introduction

Great achievements on the part of researchers are often the result of their having had the courage to leave familiar ground and to explore genuinely unknown fields. The discoverer of the quantum theory and the uncertainty principle was required to leave the solid ground of classical physics. One of the most significant changes in our comprehension of the universe-a change which is reflected in fields far removed from physics-was wrought by the departure from the determinacy of physical phenomena and by far deeper reaching relativition of the law of causality.The quantum theory and the uncertainty principle are discoveries which have changed the basis of our way of thinking. We still can not foresee their ultimate consequences. However， in later research published in NATURE， they offer experimental evidence that something deeper than uncertainty yanks offstage the wave-or entanglement， or correlations.

Ⅱ.Description

Uncertainty meant that no matter how accurately one tried to measure the classical quantities of position and momentum， there would always be an uncertainty in the measurement. Predicting or determining the future of atomic objects would be impossible under these circumstances. This was called the Heinsenberg Principle of Uncertainty or the Principle of Indeterminism. It has little relevance in the world of ordinarily sized objects. They were hardly bothered by disturbances produced through observation.But the uncertainty principle was serious business when it came to electrons.Indeed， it was so serious that it brought the very existence of electrons into question.Later the principle was found to apply to any pair of observations， provided that pair of observations never produced the same result when carried out in a reverse order.This included the energy of a particle and the time span over which that energy was to be measured. The uncertainties in the measurement of the two conjugated variables form a reciprocal relationship that can be expressed in mathematical symbols with Planck's constant h playing the pivotal role-Heisenberg's famous uncertainty relations:

ΔpΔq ≥ h/2π

ΔEΔt ≥ h/2π

The first relationship expresses the circumstances that， if the position q and momentum p of a particle are measured simultaneously to an error in precision of Δp and Δq in a given instant， then the product of these two imprecisions， or uncertainties must be at least equal to h/2π (which is a very small number， h being 6.6*10-27erg-sec). The same hold for energy E and time t.

Ⅲ.Significance of the uncertainty principle

The modern quantum theory has brought about a revolutionary transformation， not only in the content of our knowledge of physics， but also in our overall philosophical views concerning the nature of matter and man's relationship to the ultimate objects of his investigations. As we can expect， the uncertainty principle was quite an upset to the continuist. It signaled the end of mechanical models.The acceptance of uncertainty came in the decade between 1925 and 1935. 1926-1927 saw publications by Heisenberg identifying the inherent uncertainty associated with certain measurements.In 1931 Goedel published his paper showing that the axiomatic method itself had inherent limitations.In 1934 Popper published the \"Logik der falsifiability\"， which finally demolished the notion of absolute scientific proof. It was thus doubt and skepticism that distinguished the scientist， and not confidence and certainty.Gradually， imperfection， inaccuracy， unpredictability， uncertainty and randomness were both accepted into physics.It is reasonable to relate this increasing tolerance with the growing maturity of science. By analogy with the growth of sophistication in the human being， we see that the history of science is the story of the realization that the world is not so simple as we should like it to be， that we can not hope to achieve absolute certainty， and we can not hope to know or understand everything.Nor it is necessary to explain everything that we do not understand.I believe true humility in science consist in knowing that we do not know.And more important， it inspired people once again to think the unthinkable， and challenge the very foundations of subjects.

Ⅳ.Summary

During 1920s， after Bohr constructed the wave-particle duality and Schodinger proposed an equation for finding the wave function of any system， Heisenberg built up his uncertainty principle， one of the most celebrated results of quantum mechanics: It is impossible to specify simultaneously， with arbitrary precision， both the momentum and the position of a particle.

This principle successfully explained the failure of application of classical mechanics to the experimental evidence accumulated for very small particles.It is one of the most profound departures from classical mechanics， and eventually gave an end of mechanical models to describe the particle-sized subjects.

References：

［1］Hans Matthofer， Foreword for The Uncertainty Principle and Foundation of Quantum Mechanics， United Kingdom.

［2］Peter Weiss， Wave or Article? Heisenberg， take a hike! Science News .1998，9.

［3］Fred Alan Wolf， Taking the Quantum Leap， London， 1989.

［4］WH， ZP.Quantum Theory and Measurement.1927.43.172-198.

［5］Geodel.Under Formal Uncertainty principle mathematics， New York， 1931.

［6］Gordon Reece.The Acceptance of Uncertainty， Phy. Rev. 1260-1321.

(作者單位：深圳大學外國語學院）