Difference between revisions of "Werner Heisenberg"
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Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) was a German physicist most credited with the discovery of [[quantum mechanics]], in 1925. Heisenberg proposed that it is impossible to assign to an electron a position in space at a given time or follow it precisely in its orbit. Heisenberg thereby challenged the model of subatomic particles that was based on planetary obrits. Instead, Heisenberg suggested that mechanical quantities like position and velocity are better represented, not by ordinary commutative numbers, but by non-commutative mathematical objects called [[matrices]]. | Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) was a German physicist most credited with the discovery of [[quantum mechanics]], in 1925. Heisenberg proposed that it is impossible to assign to an electron a position in space at a given time or follow it precisely in its orbit. Heisenberg thereby challenged the model of subatomic particles that was based on planetary obrits. Instead, Heisenberg suggested that mechanical quantities like position and velocity are better represented, not by ordinary commutative numbers, but by non-commutative mathematical objects called [[matrices]]. | ||
| − | Heisenberg formulated a famous principle that now bears his name: | + | Heisenberg formulated a famous principle that now bears his name: The [[Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle]]. This principle states that the determination of the position and momentum of a mobile particle always contains errors which, when multiplied, cannot be less than the quantum constant h. These errors are negligible in ordinary life but significant in the study of subatomic particles. |
[[Category:Biographies]] | [[Category:Biographies]] | ||
[[Category:Physics]] | [[Category:Physics]] | ||
Revision as of 21:18, March 22, 2007
Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) was a German physicist most credited with the discovery of quantum mechanics, in 1925. Heisenberg proposed that it is impossible to assign to an electron a position in space at a given time or follow it precisely in its orbit. Heisenberg thereby challenged the model of subatomic particles that was based on planetary obrits. Instead, Heisenberg suggested that mechanical quantities like position and velocity are better represented, not by ordinary commutative numbers, but by non-commutative mathematical objects called matrices.
Heisenberg formulated a famous principle that now bears his name: The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. This principle states that the determination of the position and momentum of a mobile particle always contains errors which, when multiplied, cannot be less than the quantum constant h. These errors are negligible in ordinary life but significant in the study of subatomic particles.
