-
Basic Introduction
Hello class,
For the week 3 timeline, I will be discussing the controversial scientist Werner Heisenberg, a German physicist known for the Uncertainty Principle. Throughout most of the articles and biographies that I have read, most of them posed a question. Did Werner Heisenberg purposefully undermine the German a-bomb project, or simply fail to understand the physics? It's this question that drew me in to choose Werner Heisenberg over Niels Bohr as a scientist to examine. -
Studies at the University of Munich
Starting his education at the University of Munich in 1920, Heisenberg studied physics under Sommerfeld, Wien, Pringsheim, and Rosenthal, among some other teachers until 1924. In 1924 he earned the venia legendi. -
Theory of Quantum Mechanics
When Heisenberg was 23 years old, he published his theory on quantum mechanics after he spent some time at Bohr's institute of Theoretical Physics. His stand was that the theory should be based only on what we can observe. "By November, Born, Heisenberg, and Jordan had completed “Zur Quantenmechanik II” (“On Quantum Mechanics II”), colloquially known as the “three-man paper,” which is regarded as the foundational document of a new quantum mechanics." -
Uncertainty Principle
After Schrodinger 'demonstrated that the different formulations were mathematically equivalent, though the physical significance of this equivalence remained unclear', Heisenberg held discussions at Bohr's institute on the matter, and soon put together his own paper "On the Perceptual Content of Quantum Theoretical Kinematics and Mechanics"; in which it described the Uncertainty Principle; that the momentum and position of a particle couldn't be exactly measured at the same time. -
Extra note
To be honest, I'm not exactly sure if I did this project even remotely correct? But I did learn quite a bit about Heisenberg and his theories. Not going to lie, the math makes my head spin a little bit. I didn't even know that matrix algebra existed before this. This just goes to show that as individuals, we are constantly learning new information and working towards bettering ourselves. Even if mistakes are made, they are a learning experience, as is everyday life. Have a nice day! -
Credits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql1UN6hcymI&ab_channel=FortheAllureofPhysics https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1932/heisenberg/biographical/ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Werner-Heisenberg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKELOE9eY4&ab_channel=TED-Ed It's not really a credit, but I enjoyed this video below https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiBZ5WuO6NU&ab_channel=ENR