There are many kinds of certainty in the world, but there is only one kind of uncertainty.
I: We can think of all mathematical arguments as "causal" arguments, where everything behaves deterministically*. Mathematical causality can be divided into two categories**: The first type, structural causality - is determined by static types of relations such as logical, geometrical, algebraic, etc. For example, "∵ A>B, B>C; ∴ A>C"; "∵ radius is R; ∴ perimeter = 2πR"; ∵ x^2=1; ∴ x1=1, x2=√-1; .......The second category, behavioral causality - the process of motion of a system described by differential equations. Such as the wave equation ∂^2/ ∂t^2-a^2Δu=0 ...
II: In the physical world, physics is mathematics, and defined mathematical relationships determine physical causality. Any "physical process" must be a parameter of time and space, which is the essential difference between physical and mathematical causality. Equations such as Coulomb's law F=q1*q2/r^2 cannot be a description of a microscopic interaction process because they do not contain differential terms. Abstracted "forces" are not fundamental quantities describing the interaction. Equations such as the blackbody radiation law and Ohm's law are statistical laws and do not describe microscopic processes.
The objects analyzed by physics, no matter how microscopic†, are definite systems of energy-momentum, are interactions between systems of energy-momentum, and can be analyzed in terms of energy-momentum. The process of maintaining conservation of energy-momentum is equal to the process of maintaining causality.
III: Mathematically a probabilistic event can be any distribution, depending on the mandatory definitions and derivations. However, there can only be one true probabilistic event in physics that exists theoretically, i.e., an equal probability distribution with complete randomness. If unequal probabilities exist, then we need to ask what causes them. This introduces the problem of causality and negates randomness. Bohr said "The probability function obeys an equation of motion as did the co-ordinates in Newtonian mechanics "[1]. So, Weinberg said of the Copenhagen rules, "The real difficulty is that it is also deterministic, or more precisely, that it combines a probabilistic interpretation with deterministic dynamics" [2].
IV: The wave function in quantum mechanics describes a deterministic evolution energy-momentum system [3]. The behavior of the wave function follows the Hamiltonian principle [4] and is strictly an energy-momentum evolution process***. However, the Copenhagen School interpreted the wave function as "probabilistic" nature [23]. Bohr rejected Einstein's insistence on causality by replacing the term "complementarity" with his own invention, "complementarity". Bohr rejects Einstein's insistence on causality, replacing it with his own invention of "complementarity" [5].
Schrödinger ascribed a reality of the same kind that light waves possessed to the waves that he regards as the carriers of atomic processes by using the de Broglie procedure; he attempts "to construct wave packets (wave parcels) that have relatively small dimensions in all directions," and which can obviously represent the moving " and which can obviously represent the moving corpuscle directly [4][6].
Born and Heisenberg believe that an exact representation of processes in space and time is quite impossible and that one must then content oneself with presenting the relations between the observed quantities, which can only be interpreted as properties of the motions in the limiting classical cases [6]. Heisenberg, in contrast to Bohr, believed that the wave equation gave a causal, albeit probabilistic description of the free electron in configuration space [1].
The wave function itself is a function of time and space, and if the "wave-function collapse" at the time of measurement is probabilistic evolution, with instantaneous nature, [3], neither time (Δt=0) nor spatial transition is required. then it is in conflict not only with the Special Relativity, but also with the Uncertainty Principle. Because the wave function represents some definite energy and momentum, which appear to be infinite when required to follow the Uncertainty Principle [7], ΔE*Δt>h and ΔP*Δx>h.
V: We must also be mindful of the fact that the amount of information about a completely random event. From a quantum measurement point of view, it is infinite, since the true probability event of going from a completely unknown state A before the measurement to a completely determined state B after the measurement is completely without any information to base it on‡.
VI: The Uncertainty Principle originated in Heisenberg's analysis of x-ray microscopy [8] and its mathematical derivation comes from the Fourier Transform [8][10]. E and t, P and x, are two pairs of commuting quantities [11]. While the interpretation of the Uncertainty Principle has been long debated [7][9], "Either the color of the light is measured precisely or the time of arrival of the light is measured precisely." This choice also puzzled Einstein [12], but because of its great convenience as an explanatory "tool", physics has extended it to the "generalized uncertainty principle " [13].
Is this tool not misused? Take for example a time-domain pulsed signal of width τ, which has a Stretch (Scaling Theorem) property with the frequency-domain Fourier transform [14], and a bandwidth in the frequency domain B ≈ 1/τ. This is the equivalent of the uncertainty relation¶, where the width in the time domain is inversely proportional to the width in the frequency domain. However, this relation is fixed for a definite pulse object, i.e., both τ and B are constant, and there is no problem of inaccuracy.
In physics, the uncertainty principle is usually explained in terms of single-slit diffraction [15]. Assuming that the width of the single slit is d, the distribution width (range) of the interference fringes can be analyzed when d is different. Describing the relationship between P and d in this way is equivalent to analyzing the forced interaction that occurs between the incident particle and d. The analysis of such experimental results is consistent with the Fourier transform. But for a fixed d, the distribution does not have any uncertainty. This situation is confirmed experimentally, "We are not free to trade off accuracy in the one at the expense of the other."[16].
The usual doubt lies in the diffraction distribution that appears when a single photon or a single electron is diffracted. This does look like a probabilistic event. But the probabilistic interpretation actually negates the Fourier transform process. If we consider a single particle as a wave packet with a phase parameter, and the phase is statistical when it encounters a single slit, then we can explain the "randomness" of the position of a single photon or a single electron on the screen without violating the Fourier transform at any time. This interpretation is similar to de Broglie's interpretation [17], which is in fact equivalent to Bohr's interpretation [18][19]. Considering the causal conflict of the probabilistic interpretation, the phase interpretation is more rational.
VII. The uncertainty principle is a "passive" principle, not an "active" principle. As long as the object is certain, it has a determinate expression. Everything is where it is expected to be, not this time in this place, but next time in another place.
Our problems are:
1) At observable level, energy-momentum conservation (that is, causality) is never broken. So, is it an active norm, or just a phenomenon?
2) Why is there a "probability" in the measurement process (wave packet collapse) [3]?
3) Does the probabilistic interpretation of the wave function conflict with the uncertainty principle? How can this be resolved?
4) Is the Uncertainty Principle indeed uncertain?
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Notes:
* Determinism here is a narrow sense of determinism, only for localized events. My personal attitude towards determinism in the broad sense (without distinguishing predictability, Fatalism, see [20] for a specialized analysis) is negative. Because, 1) we must note that complete prediction of all states is dependent on complete boundary conditions and initial conditions. Since all things are correlated, as soon as any kind of infinity exists, such as the spacetime scale of the universe, then the possibility of obtaining all boundary conditions is completely lost. 2) The physical equations of the upper levels can collapse by entering a singularity (undergoing a phase transition), which can lead to unpredictability results.
** Personal, non-professional opinion.
*** Energy conservation of independent wave functions is unquestionable, and it is debatable whether the interactions at the time of measurement obey local energy conservation [21].
† This is precisely the meaning of the Planck Constant h, the smallest unit of action. h itself is a constant of magnitude Js. For the photon, when h is coupled to time (frequency) and space (wavelength), there is energy E = hν,momentum P = h/λ.
‡ Thus, if a theory is to be based on "information", then it must completely reject the probabilistic interpretation of the wave function.
¶ In the field of signal analysis, this is also referred to by some as "The Uncertainty Principle", ΔxΔk=4π [22].
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References:
[1] Faye, J. (2019). "Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy from .
[2] Weinberg, S. (2020). Dreams of a Final Theory, Hunan Science and Technology Press.
[3] Bassi, A., K. Lochan, S. Satin, T. P. Singh and H. Ulbricht (2013). "Models of wave-function collapse, underlying theories, and experimental tests." Reviews of Modern Physics 85(2): 471.
[4] Schrödinger, E. (1926). "An Undulatory Theory of the Mechanics of Atoms and Molecules." Physical Review 28(6): 1049-1070.
[5] Bohr, N. (1937). "Causality and complementarity." Philosophy of Science 4(3): 289-298.
[6] Born, M. (1926). "Quantum mechanics of collision processes." Uspekhi Fizich.
[7] Busch, P., T. Heinonen and P. Lahti (2007). "Heisenberg's uncertainty principle." Physics Reports 452(6): 155-176.
[8] Heisenberg, W. (1927). "Principle of indeterminacy." Z. Physik 43: 172-198. “不确定性原理”源论文。
[9] https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2023/entries/qt-uncertainty/; 对不确定性原理更详细的历史介绍,其中包括了各种代表性的观点。
[10] Brown, L. M., A. Pais and B. Poppard (1995). Twentieth Centure Physics(I), Science Press.
[11] Dirac, P. A. M. (2017). The Principles of Quantum Mechanics, China Machine Press.
[12] Pais, A. (1982). The Science and Life of Albert Einstein I
[13] Tawfik, A. N. and A. M. Diab (2015). "A review of the generalized uncertainty principle." Reports on Progress in Physics 78(12): 126001.
[14] https://www.princeton.edu/~cuff/ele301/files/lecture8_2.pdf;
[15] 曾谨言 (2013). 量子力学(QM), Science Press.
[16] Williams, B. G. (1984). "Compton scattering and Heisenberg's microscope revisited." American Journal of Physics 52(5): 425-430.
Hofer, W. A. (2012). "Heisenberg, uncertainty, and the scanning tunneling microscope." Frontiers of Physics 7(2): 218-222.
Prasad, N. and C. Roychoudhuri (2011). "Microscope and spectroscope results are not limited by Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle!" Proceedings of SPIE-The International Society for Optical Engineering 8121.
[17] De Broglie, L. and J. A. E. Silva (1968). "Interpretation of a Recent Experiment on Interference of Photon Beams." Physical Review 172(5): 1284-1285.
[18] Cushing, J. T. (1994). Quantum mechanics: historical contingency and the Copenhagen hegemony, University of Chicago Press.
[19] Saunders, S. (2005). "Complementarity and scientific rationality." Foundations of Physics 35: 417-447.
[20] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/determinism-causal/;
[21] Carroll, S. M. and J. Lodman (2021). "Energy non-conservation in quantum mechanics." Foundations of Physics 51(4): 83.
[22] https://math.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Differential_Equations/Introduction_to_Partial_Differential_Equations_(Herman)/09%3A_Transform_Techniques_in_Physics/9.05%3A_Properties_of_the_Fourier_Transform;
[23] Born, M. (1955). "Statistical Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics." Science 122(3172): 675-679.
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