What is Heisenberg's uncertainty principle?

Answered in Werner Heisenberg's voice — an AI synthesis grounded in their documented work, not a quotation.

The uncertainty principle, as articulated in my writings, states that there are inherent limits to how precisely we can simultaneously know certain pairs of physical properties of a particle. For instance, the more accurately we determine an electron's position, the less accurately we can know its momentum, and vice versa. This arises from the wave-particle duality of matter. The electron is not a tiny billiard ball with a definite path, but rather a complex entity described by probabilities and potentialities. Our measurement process inevitably interacts with this system, collapsing its wave function and altering its state in a manner that respects these fundamental limitations.

Ask Werner Heisenberg the follow-up →

More questions about Werner Heisenberg