If I know where a subatomic particle is with 100% accuracy, I could not predict its momentum.
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I was watching a YouTube, and a physicist was saying that the idea of particles with positions was wrong. He said the only thing there is, is the wave function.
But then he went further, and said thinking about everything having wave functions that exist on their own is also wrong. Rather, the there is just one wave function, for the entire universe. Things are entangled.
He also said every possible state, every possible world, exists in the wave function, but an observer only exists in one world. They branch and branch throughout time. Some branches have a higher probability than others.
It makes my head hurt.
Another videos tried to explain the uncertainty principle using wave frequencies. Any complicated wave can be decomposed into a sum of simple sine waves with different frequencies, phases, and amplitudes. Suppose each frequency was a possible momentum state.
If the momentum is fixed, then the wave is just like a sine wave. That is, it has the same frequency everywhere and fills space, with no localized bunches. So no "location" at all.
On the other hand, if a particle has a fixed position, then its wave bunches up in a single location, meaning it has varying frequency. So, its wave is a sum of many sine waves each with a different frequency, and hence many momenta states. It has no fixed momentum.
Pretty neat!
But then he went further, and said thinking about everything having wave functions that exist on their own is also wrong. Rather, the there is just one wave function, for the entire universe. Things are entangled.
He also said every possible state, every possible world, exists in the wave function, but an observer only exists in one world. They branch and branch throughout time. Some branches have a higher probability than others.
It makes my head hurt.
Another videos tried to explain the uncertainty principle using wave frequencies. Any complicated wave can be decomposed into a sum of simple sine waves with different frequencies, phases, and amplitudes. Suppose each frequency was a possible momentum state.
If the momentum is fixed, then the wave is just like a sine wave. That is, it has the same frequency everywhere and fills space, with no localized bunches. So no "location" at all.
On the other hand, if a particle has a fixed position, then its wave bunches up in a single location, meaning it has varying frequency. So, its wave is a sum of many sine waves each with a different frequency, and hence many momenta states. It has no fixed momentum.
Pretty neat!
Bumbles · 51-55, M
@JoyfulSilence I wish I was smart enough to understand it all. Thanks for your explanation.
DareToSayIT · 31-35, M