Your Daily Equation #18: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle: Math not Meth 

Not even being a mathematician or a physicist, I was still able to gain much better understanding of exactly how the uncertainty principle works. Thanks Brian, you really are one of the great science communicators.

An electron is driving down a motorway, and a policeman pulls him over. The policeman says: “Sir, do you realize you were traveling at 130km per hour?” The electron goes: “Oh great, now I’m lost."

Dear Prof. Greene ,thank you for this series and all the others in the World Science Festival. Your talks and the way all these things are explained is so intuitive and easy to understand, that it becomes inspiring. It makes people excited and looking forward to understand more about the mysteries of the universe. Absolutely wonderful!

Thank you sir, for your effort to attract students towards law of nature. I am from India, according to Indian time it is 12.06am too late night but I am still waiting for your lecture sir.

Great! Looking forward to hearing Prof Greene's explanation. Thinking about Heisenberg's Principle, leaves me feeling curiously comforted, - finding in 'the knowledge of this trade-off limitation (and others) deep and fundamental truths built into the fundamental structure of the universe.

I WILL BE HAPPY TO SEE MY FAVORITE EQUATION.. Thank you Professor Greene.🙃😇

BTW I’m excited about hearing you may give us a peek next week at the mathematics Einstein used (tensors) in understanding the curvature of space-time!

Still amazed about this classes! Thanks, Dr. Greene!

Dear Prof. Greene: Could you please consider explaining the Bell's theorem too. Thanks

Great to have you back ❤

Wish all teachers were as good as you.! Thanks. I almost think I understand you, don’t stop! I hope to watch them all over again from the beginning!

Thank you Brian Greene for this fantastic explanation with the graphs in the beginning, and also in the end - they clearly show the wave vs particle situations that yield either v (p) or x (position) but not both. I never knew that both Fourier transforms and the Gaussian curve could come in this as a school example. Beautiful how all these techniques come together. I loved also the number example that shows how and why uncertainty reigns on atomic scales, plus the implication of what the principle really is. Super!

I love how much joy he has in explaining the uncertainty principle

I am so obsessed with your lectures..thank you for doing this

Professor Brian Greene, thanks for the awesome presentation. With warm greetings from Mizoram🙏

I have a midterm in about 10 hours. This is perfect extra for what we are learning right now. Dr.Greene what is your favorite undergrad book to teach physics out of?

The two graphs of X and p at 32 minutes just really makes sense! Thank you!

So interesting, so informative! Thank you once again.

After your explanation/illustration, the Uncertainty Principle (for me) becomes almost intuitive!

This was amazing explanation. Always struggling with the last piece you talked about, now I understand that it depends on what quantum theory you believe in (at least until one of them wins :))

Thanks Dr. Greene!

Thanks Brian. You are an INSPIRATION. I am not a scientist, courtesy of a terrible teacher at school which caused me to hate the subject. Thirty years later I discovered I have always been in love with it without knowing. You help me find answers to so many questions I have had!

I understand absolutely nothing of these vids but really enjoy how he tries to explain them. It's amazing that people like him can comprehend such complex concepts!!

Awesome! Thank you so much!!!

Nicely done Professor!!!

Awesome explanation!

Great episode!

Wonderful explanation. Great Honor for You.

Thank you for the wonderful lecture

Thank you very much again for your advice and insights

How in the world did these guys figure this stuff out in their time? Amazing.

I once read a book, I think it was written by professor Greene who said Dr. Heisenberg didn't like the term "uncertainty" and rather preferred it as the "indeterminacy principle".

Great explanation!

Awesome Professor!

Amazing, absolutely stunning. Great explanation as always.

Thanks Professor a very explanational presentation.

finally, someone who explain the MATH of the uncertainty principle in an intiuitive and a deep enough level to get an idea of what actually the principle represents. Thanks a lot man!

Awesome 👌

Thank you Sir.

Brian I’m a huge fan and I love watching these can you explain string theory and the math?

Thank you again, Prof. Greene! 🤯 Peace and long life. -Halifax, Nova Scotia

I really aprreciate your Wonderful explanation.

Math not meth cracked me up😳

thank. you so much!

Brian you are one of the best science communicators ever. Greetings from a german engineer =)

Brian sir, I would really like you to speak a few words on Noether's theorem in the daily equations as they have a really deep meaning.

Dear prof Greene can you please explain Einstein's picture of Gravity and the mathematical tools required to study them.

Thank you for being one of the first physicists on RU-vid to even mention the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics! I'm not quite sure you got it right, though, because the essence of Bohmian mechanics is not any kind of refutation of the Uncertainty Principle, which you discussed well, and is a mathematical fact. The essence is adding the initial positions of all particles in the experiment to the Schrödinger equation. When you do that, all particle trajectories become deterministic, as though they were under the influence of a force described by the Schrödinger equation. So you can pass one electron through just one slit in the double-slit experiment, and it goes to the right place on the screen to show an apparent probabilistic wave interference between both slits! Not only that, but you can trace the path of each electron (in effect) and see exactly where it is going, with no lack of precision, from the time it is emitted by the electron source to the time it hits the screen. The precise place on the screen that it ends up is governed by the variation in the positions of each electron with respect to the center of the slit it goes through. The probability pattern is governed by the Schrödinger equation, and is determined by the geometry of the two slits. Hide one slit and the Schrödinger equation changes, so that the probability pattern disappears. It is a way of viewing experimental truth without mystery, thus perhaps not as interesting to physicists. Why else have they resisted this interpretation so strongly since it was first published in Physical Review in 1952? Actually, another reason is that Robert Oppenheimer opposed Bohm, not because of his physics but because he had attended Communist Party meetings in the 1920s. Bohm got a bad name because of Senator Joseph McCarthy and, at least for awhile, had to leave physics. And because of this prejudice, physics has been mired in the many mysteries essential to the Copenhagen Interpretation for all these years.

I’m not even close to understand Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. Still I find your daily equation videos incredibly fascinating. Thank you professor!

You always great ❤

We missed you today, Prof Greene. No doubt you have many other commitments. But still, this is one of the highlights of my day in confinement.

Hello sir I am saikat from India and a big fan of your explaination of complex thing in such a simple and elegant manner...I have watched your almost every lectures which are available in youtube and I have found this platform recently which is a matter of immesnse pleasure for me. Thankyou sir from my bottom of my heart for starting this "Daily equation series". And sir please visit india once. I would be waiting for your reply! Warm regards to you and your family.

M really fascinated by ur explainations..the way u explain with exaggerated joy shows ur love towards science and nature..I appeal u to elapsed an hour for relativity... especially general relativity and space-time curvature

THANK YOU😎

hi sir, thank you for the effort in putting together this opportunity for learning. wanted to put forth a request. could you please explain how the uncertainty principle concludes the quantum fluctuations of empty space and how the energies are calculated to be infinite as hawking described, and as you said in the world science festival?

Could you explain what you meant when you said it was *related to things already known about sound waves in the 1800's?* I really enjoy knowing how things are related and while my math skills are lacking it is very refreshing and often beautiful when you see all the various intersections between one mathematical formula and another. The next time you do a Q&A, I would love to hear more about this or any OTHER relationships which are not obvious, but which help uncover more profound concepts in Physics. Thank you in advance.................................

Sir, when we know the position of the electron precisely( by that dot on the screen in the double slit experiment you’d previously shown us that was carried out at a Hitachi lab) , wouldn’t the dent or the impact that that first electron makes, tell us precisely the momentum, and this would thus disprove the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?

So amazing! Thanks doc Greene; I graduated in chemistry this year and I've actually always been drawn to phys chem. However, my lack of confidence in maths always put me off thinking of pursuing a masters degree in phys chem; any tips or course to improve my understanding of maths? Thanks for your time Prof and I wish you well.

So, that's where I was wrong....lol. Thanks, really nice to see all of these things explained so well.

Quantum is for the brave. I love how he delights in all that is undiscovered versus other scientists that pride themselves on what is "known".

Very interesting

No I like your 4 channel sir thank you for your examples.

This guy is love. ♥

Hi, Prof. Greene How can we envision the existence of different fields (EM,E,QFT....), and how they interact with each together to form the nature that we experience? And are these fields embedded in "Space-time dimension"? Also Prof. what is space? Sorry for inconvenience. Thanks..

Dr. Greene, would you tell me what you are using to write the equations? What tablet are you using and what equipment is needed for your virtual teaching. We are able to see you and your writing board. Your presentation is excellent.

Professor, how does the source code can constantly correct the "h bar" error?

Wao thank you mentioned Sheldon when I saw u in BBT I became even a bigger fan..

That period in physics was amazing.

@world science festival. professor Greene, during your years in Princeton university u proved along with your colleagues that the fabric of space and time can be tear and repair. so if it can tear than what material will cause it to repair

love the big bang theory, love mister greene.

Hello sir please make a video regarding Eigen value

Art and Comedy with Contemplata! Perhaps in ones perspective the precice point location is a variable do to "parallax" of distance between the eyes or even the fact the one eye has dimension whereas a point has "no" dimension? A finding of a"fix" with a compass has variation and deviation but have "faith" it is there! Note; I am also intrigued by this (i) and it's usefulness. I had a guess yesterday, fascinating!

Dear Professor Grene, can you do,Paul Dirac Equation...it's a great thing you do though

Dr Greene... can you explain the Pauli exclusion principle and also the fine-structure constant.

Besides location and momentum, what are other pairs of qualities whose interdependent probability functions limit one's ability to specify their number with precision?

Best math-based explanation I’ve ever heard

does anyone know series and episode no. for big bang theory. thanks

Dear Dr Green, I am so happy that you did not follow Sheldon‘s advice („Reading to the Elderly...“) ;-) Having studied Physics some decades ago I finally get insights I never had. I hope that - unlike Corona - you will go on with this series.

sir could you please explain feynman's path integral formula

I dont know if you do Wigners friend later? The recent real world version of that thought experiment seems to settle the ontology. there is no physical interaction with one side of the entangled pair and only revealing the spin state to the friend collapses the wave.. what do you think of this?

Something beautiful coming out of the Coronavirus crisis: "Your Daily Equation" :-]]]

Impressive

The time domain is dual to the frequency domain -- Fourier transform. Stability is dual to instability Poles (eigenvalues) are dual to zeroes -- the complex plane Controlability is dual to observability -- Optimized control theory Probability densities are composed of two (dual) amplitudes, wave functions, probability is dual! Amplitudes are rectified into densities, diodes -- rectified currents, AC to DC. Positive is dual to negative.

Excellent series. A question: Most "explanations" of this focus on the wave aspect, either particle/wave, diffraction, or the bowling ball-pingpong ball microscope collision, or the Fourier transform conjugates. But everything associated with Heisenberg is typically a "matrix" concept. Are there any explanations/derivations of his thought process in this manner? And I don't mean simply that matrices do not commute in multiplication. That is a separate issue he wasn't even aware of. How did he formulate his uncertainty principle in a matrix structure using his analysis from first principles of observation, the jumps in transition? Many thanks.

Wow, this remind me of Gabor's time-frequency analysis.

Good heavens! Is that a slide rule on the coffee table?

Sheldon Cooper reference just makes this!

Finally, an explanation of Heisenberg's uncertainty principal that I can wrap my mind around..... I think. Maybe not.

But why hbar/2? Is this related to the general Fourier transfom result?

Dear Prof Greene, can you please explain how physicists create theories and how do you start?

sir, you are great. you are a living legend and one of the best scientists of the present day. Love from Pakistan

You try so hard. And it shows and you succeed.

It's just like family and work! If you try to grab one tightly you lose another!!

can you do what is psi

This squeeze idea reminds me of my bills haha I try to spend less and then something comes to where I spend more no matter how hard I try haha.

Thank you very much for popularising Science concepts in a very lucid style. 🎉❤😂

Sir could a video on of how gravity affects time dilation in relation with how gravity affects the passage of time

Hey, great video! There’s just something I don’t get; what does it mean for a probability wave to have a certain momentum? I get it if you tell me like ‘this mass is going at this speed therefore it has this momentum’, but I thought probability waves just represented the likeliness of finding a particle at a certain position. What does it mean for them to have momentum?

Prof Greene, could it be that the uncertainty Principal which is something fundamental, lead to the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics? After all any theory should be verified by observation and experiment. So could it be that this observation led to this probabilistic discription/nature?

Questions: Do all atoms and subatomic particles "vibrate" or "wiggle"? If so is it because of the "uncertainty principle"? Is that the reason we can never get it cold enough to reach absolute zero? If a particle stopped vibrating would that mean its temperature would be absolutely known to be "zero" and that is impossible because it violates the uncertainty principle? In other words, if so would we know the particle's exact location and its temperature? Do these questions follow the uncertainty principle or am I making false assumptions and conclusions?