CHAPTER 4 THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE

第四章　不確定性原理

The success of scientific theories, particularly Newton』s theory of gravity, led the French scientist the Marquis de Laplace at the beginning of the nineteenth century to argue that the universe was completely deterministic. Laplace suggested that there should be a set of scientific laws that would allow us to predict everything that would happen in the universe, if only we knew the complete state of the universe at one time. For example, if we knew the positions and speeds of the sun and the planets at one time, then we could use Newton』s laws to calculate the state of the Solar System at any other time. Determinism seems fairly obvious in this case, but Laplace went further to assume that there were similar laws governing everything else, including human behavior.

科學理論，特別是牛頓引力論的成功，使得法國科學家拉普拉斯侯爵在19世紀初論斷，宇宙是完全被決定的。他認為存在一組科學定律，只要我們完全知道宇宙在某一時刻的狀態，我們便能依此預言宇宙中將會發生的任一事件。例如，假定我們知道某一個時刻的太陽和行星的位置和速度，則可用牛頓定律計算出在任何其他時刻的太陽系的狀態。這種情形下的宿命論是顯而易見的，但拉普拉斯進一步假定存在著某些定律，它們類似地制約其他每一件東西，包括人類的行為。

The doctrine of scientific determinism was strongly resisted by many people, who felt that it infringed God』s freedom to intervene in the world, but it remained the standard assumption of science until the early years of this century. One of the first indications that this belief would have to be abandoned came when calculations by the British scientists Lord Rayleigh and Sir James Jeans suggested that a hot object, or body, such as a star, must radiate energy at an infinite rate. According to the laws we believed at the time, a hot body ought to give off electromagnetic waves (such as radio waves, visible light, or X rays) equally at all frequencies. For example, a hot body should radiate the same amount of energy in waves with frequencies between one and two million million waves a second as in waves with frequencies between two and three million million waves a second. Now since the number of waves a second is unlimited, this would mean that the total energy radiated would be infinite.

很多人強烈地抵制這種科學宿命論的教義，他們感到這侵犯了上帝干涉世界的自由。但直到本世紀初，這種觀念仍被認為是科學的標準假定。這種信念必須被拋棄的一個最初的徵兆，是由英國科學家瑞利勛爵和詹姆斯·金斯爵士所做的計算，他們指出一個熱的物體——例如恆星——必須以無限大的速率輻射出能量。按照當時我們所相信的定律，一個熱體必須在所有的頻段同等地發出電磁波（諸如無線電波、可見光或X射線）。例如，一個熱體在1萬億赫茲到2萬億赫茲頻率之間發出和在2萬億赫茲到3萬億赫茲頻率之間同樣能量的波。而既然波的頻譜是無限的，這意味著輻射出的總能量必須是無限的。

In order to avoid this obviously ridiculous result, the German scientist Max Planck suggested in 1900 that light, X rays, and other waves could not be emitted at an arbitrary rate, but only in certain packets that he called quanta. Moreover, each quantum had a certain amount of energy that was greater the higher the frequency of the waves, so at a high enough frequency the emission of a single quantum would require more energy than was available. Thus the radiation at high frequencies would be reduced, and so the rate at which the body lost energy would be finite.

為了避免這顯然荒謬的結果，德國科學家馬克斯·普郎克在1900年提出，光波、X射線和其他波不能以任意的速率輻射，而必須以某種稱為量子的形式發射。並且，每個量子具有確定的能量，波的頻率越高，其能量越大。這樣，在足夠高的頻率下，輻射單獨量子所需要的能量比所能得到的還要多。因此，在高頻下輻射被減少了，物體喪失能量的速率變成有限的了。

The quantum hypothesis explained the observed rate of emission of radiation from hot bodies very well, but its implications for determinism were not realized until 1926, when another German scientist, Werner Heisenberg, formulated his famous uncertainty principle. In order to predict the future position and velocity of a particle, one has to be able to measure its present position and velocity accurately. The obvious way to do this is to shine light on the particle. Some of the waves of light will be scattered by the particle and this will indicate its position. However, one will not be able to determine the position of the particle more accurately than the distance between the wave crests of light, so one needs to use light of a short wavelength in order to measure the position of the particle precisely. Now, by Planck』s quantum hypothesis, one cannot use an arbitrarily small amount of light; one has to use at least one quantum. This quantum will disturb the particle and change its velocity in a way that cannot be predicted. moreover, the more accurately one measures the position, the shorter the wavelength of the light that one needs and hence the higher the energy of a single quantum. So the velocity of the particle will be disturbed by a larger amount. In other words, the more accurately you try to measure the position of the particle, the less accurately you can measure its speed, and vice versa. Heisenberg showed that the uncertainty in the position of the particle times the uncertainty in its velocity times the mass of the particle can never be smaller than a certain quantity, which is known as Planck』s constant. Moreover, this limit does not depend on the way in which one tries to measure the position or velocity of the particle, or on the type of particle: Heisenberg』s uncertainty principle is a fundamental, inescapable property of the world.

量子假設可以非常好地解釋所觀測到的熱體的發射率，但直到1926年另一個德國科學家威納·海森堡提出著名的不確定性原理之後，它對宿命論的含義才被意識到。為了預言一個粒子未來的位置和速度，人們必須能準確地測量它現在的位置和速度。顯而易見的辦法是將光照到這粒子上，一部分光波被此粒子散射開來，由此指明它的位置。然而，人們不可能將粒子的位置確定到比光的兩個波峰之間距離更小的程度，所以必須用短波長的光來測量粒子的位置。現在，由普郎克的量子假設，人們不能用任意少的光的數量，至少要用一個光量子。這量子會擾動這粒子，並以一種不能預見的方式改變粒子的速度。而且，位置測量得越準確，所需的波長就越短，單獨量子的能量就越大，這樣粒子的速度就被擾動得越厲害。換言之，你對粒子的位置測量得越準確，你對速度的測量就越不準確，反之亦然。海森堡指出，粒子位置的不確定性乘上粒子質量再乘以速度的不確定性不能小於一個確定量——普郎克常數。並且，這個極限既不依賴於測量粒子位置和速度的方法，也不依賴於粒子的種類。海森堡不確定性原理是世界的一個基本的不可迴避的性質。

The uncertainty principle had profound implications for the way in which we view the world. Even after more than seventy years they have not been fully appreciated by many philosophers, and are still the subject of much controversy. The uncertainty principle signaled an end to Laplace』s dream of a theory of science, a model of the universe that would be completely deterministic: one certainly cannot predict future events exactly if one cannot even measure the present state of the universe precisely! We could still imagine that there is a set of laws that determine events completely for some supernatural being, who could observe the present state of the universe without disturbing it. However, such models of the universe are not of much interest to us ordinary mortals. It seems better to employ the principle of economy known as Occam』s razor and cut out all the features of the theory that cannot be observed. This approach led Heisenberg, Erwin Schrodinger, and Paul Dirac in the 1920s to reformulate mechanics into a new theory called quantum mechanics, based on the uncertainty principle. In this theory particles no longer had separate, well-defined positions and velocities that could not be observed, Instead, they had a quantum state, which was a combination of position and velocity.

不確定性原理對我們世界觀有非常深遠的影響。甚至到了50多年之後，它還不為許多哲學家所鑒賞，仍然是許多爭議的主題。不確定性原理使拉普拉斯科學理論，即一個完全宿命論的宇宙模型的夢想壽終正寢：如果人們甚至不能準確地測量宇宙的現在的態，就肯定不能準確地預言將來的事件了！我們仍然可以想像，對於一些超自然的生物，存在一組完全地決定事件的定律，這些生物能夠不干擾宇宙地觀測它現在的狀態。然而，對於我們這些芸芸眾生而言，這樣的宇宙模型並沒有太多的興趣。看來，最好是採用稱為奧鏗剃刀的經濟學原理，將理論中不能被觀測到的所有特徵都割除掉。20世紀20年代。在不確定性原理的基礎上，海森堡、厄文·薛定諤和保爾·狄拉克運用這種手段將力學重新表達成稱為量子力學的新理論。在此理論中，粒子不再有分別被很好定義的、能被同時觀測的位置和速度，而代之以位置和速度的結合物的量子態。

In general, quantum mechanics does not predict a single definite result for an observation. Instead, it predicts a number of different possible outcomes and tells us how likely each of these is. That is to say, if one made the same measurement on a large number of similar systems, each of which started off in the same way, one would find that the result of the measurement would be A in a certain number of cases, B in a different number, and so on. One could predict the approximate number of times that the result would be A or B, but one could not predict the specific result of an individual measurement. Quantum mechanics therefore introduces an unavoidable element of unpredictability or randomness into science. Einstein objected to this very strongly, despite the important role he had played in the development of these ideas. Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution to quantum theory. Nevertheless, Einstein never accepted that the universe was governed by chance; his feelings were summed up in his famous statement 「God does not play dice.」 Most other scientists, however, were willing to accept quantum mechanics because it agreed perfectly with experiment. Indeed, it has been an outstandingly successful theory and underlies nearly all of modern science and technology. It governs the behavior of transistors and integrated circuits, which are the essential components of electronic devices such as televisions and computers, and is also the basis of modern chemistry and biology. The only areas of physical science into which quantum mechanics has not yet been properly incorporated are gravity and the large-scale structure of the universe.

一般而言，量子力學並不對一次觀測預言一個單獨的確定結果。代之，它預言一組不同的可能發生的結果，並告訴我們每個結果出現的概率。也就是說，如果我們對大量的類似的系統作同樣的測量，每一個系統以同樣的方式起始，我們將會找到測量的結果為A出現一定的次數，為B出現另一不同的次數等等。人們可以預言結果為A或B的出現的次數的近似值，但不能對個別測量的特定結果作出預言。因而量子力學為科學引進了不可避免的非預見性或偶然性。儘管愛因斯坦在發展這些觀念時起了很大作用，但他非常強烈地反對這些。他之所以得到諾貝爾獎就是因為對量子理論的貢獻。即使這樣，他也從不接受宇宙受機遇控制的觀點；他的感覺可表達成他著名的斷言：「上帝不玩弄骰子。」然而，大多數其他科學家願意接受量子力學，因為它和實驗符合得很完美。它的的確確成為一個極其成功的理論，並成為幾乎所有現代科學技術的基礎。它制約著晶體管和集成電路的行為，而這些正是電子設備諸如電視、計算機的基本元件。它並且是現代化學和生物學的基礎。物理科學未讓量子力學進入的唯一領域是引力和宇宙的大尺度結構。

Although light is made up of waves, Planck』s quantum hypothesis tells us that in some ways it behaves as if it were composed of particles: it can be emitted or absorbed only in packets, or quanta. Equally, Heisenberg』s uncertainty principle implies that particles behave in some respects like waves: they do not have a definite position but are 「smeared out」 with a certain probability distribution. The theory of quantum mechanics is based on an entirely new type of mathematics that no longer describes the real world in terms of particles and waves; it is only the observations of the world that may be described in those terms. There is thus a duality between waves and particles in quantum mechanics: for some purposes it is helpful to think of particles as waves and for other purposes it is better to think of waves as particles. An important consequence of this is that one can observe what is called interference between two sets of waves or particles. That is to say, the crests of one set of waves may coincide with the troughs of the other set. The two sets of waves then cancel each other out rather than adding up to a stronger wave as one might expect Figure 4:1.

雖然光是由波組成的，普郎克的量子假設告訴我們，在某些方面，它的行為似乎顯現出它是由粒子組成的——它只能以量子的形式被發射或吸收。同樣地，海森堡的不確定性原理意味著，粒子在某些方面的行為像波一樣：它們沒有確定的位置，而是被「抹平」成一定的幾率分布。量子力學的理論是基於一個全新的數學基礎之上，不再按照粒子和波動來描述實際的世界；而只不過利用這些術語，來描述對世界的觀測而已。所以，在量子力學中存在著波動和粒子的二重性：為了某些目的將波動想像成為粒子是有助的，反之亦然。這導致一個很重要的後果，人們可以觀察到兩組波或粒子的所謂的干涉，也就是一束波的波峰可以和另一束波的波谷相重合。這兩束波互相抵消，而不是像人們預料的那樣，迭加在一起形成更強的波（圖 4.1）。

A familiar example of interference in the case of light is the colors that are often seen in soap bubbles. These are caused by reflection of light from the two sides of the thin film of water forming the bubble. White light consists of light waves of all different wavelengths, or colors, For certain wavelengths the crests of the waves reflected from one side of the soap film coincide with the troughs reflected from the other side. The colors corresponding to these wavelengths are absent from the reflected light, which therefore appears to be colored. Interference can also occur for particles, because of the duality introduced by quantum mechanics. A famous example is the so-called two-slit experiment Figure 4:2.

一個熟知的光的干涉的例子是，肥皂泡上經常能看到顏色。這是因為從形成泡沫的很薄的水膜的兩邊反射回來的光互相干涉而引起的。白光含有所有不同波長或顏色的光波，從水膜一邊反射回來的具有一定波長的波的波峰和從另一邊反射的波谷相重合時，對應於此波長的顏色就不在反射光中出現，所以反射光就顯得五彩繽紛。由於量子力學引進的二重性，粒子也會產生干涉。一個著名的例子即是所謂的雙縫實驗（圖4.2）。

Consider a partition with two narrow parallel slits in it. On one side of the partition one places a source of fight of a particular color (that is, of a particular wavelength). Most of the light will hit the partition, but a small amount will go through the slits. Now suppose one places a screen on the far side of the partition from the light. Any point on the screen will receive waves from the two slits. However, in general, the distance the light has to travel from the source to the screen via the two slits will be different. This will mean that the waves from the slits will not be in phase with each other when they arrive at the screen: in some places the waves will cancel each other out, and in others they will reinforce each other. The result is a characteristic pattern of light and dark fringes.

一個帶有兩個平行狹縫的隔板，在它的一邊放上一個特定顏色（即特定波長）的光源。大部分光都射在隔板上，但是一小部分光通過這兩條縫。現在假定將一個屏幕放到隔板的另一邊。屏幕上的任何一點都能接收到兩個縫來的波。然而，一般來說，光從光源通過這兩個狹縫傳到屏幕上的距離是不同的。這表明，從狹縫來的光到達屏幕之時不再是同位相的：有些地方波動互相抵消，其他地方它們互相加強，結果形成有亮暗條紋的特徵花樣。

The remarkable thing is that one gets exactly the same kind of fringes if one replaces the source of light by a source of particles such as electrons with a definite speed (this means that the corresponding waves have a definite length). It seems the more peculiar because if one only has one slit, one does not get any fringes, just a uniform distribution of electrons across the screen. One might therefore think that opening another slit would just increase the number of electrons hitting each point of the screen, but, because of interference, it actually decreases it in some places. If electrons are sent through the slits one at a time, one would expect each to pass through one slit or the other, and so behave just as if the slit it passed through were the only one there – giving a uniform distribution on the screen. In reality, however, even when the electrons are sent one at a time, the fringes still appear. Each electron, therefore, must be passing through both slits at the same time!

非常令人驚異的是，如果將光源換成粒子源，譬如具有一定速度（這表明其對應的波有同樣的波長）的電子束，人們得到完全同樣類型的條紋。這顯得更為古怪，因為如果只有一條裂縫，則得不到任何條紋，只不過是電子通過這屏幕的均勻分布。人們因此可能會想到，另開一條縫只不過是打到屏幕上每一點的電子數目增加而已。但是，實際上由於干涉，在某些地方反而減少了。如果在一個時刻只有一個電子被發出通過狹縫，人們會以為，每個電子只穿過其中的一條縫，這樣它的行為正如同另一個狹縫不存在時一樣——屏幕會給出一個均勻的分布。然而，實際上即使電子是一個一個地發出，條紋仍然出現，所以每個電子必須在同一時刻通過兩個小縫！

The phenomenon of interference between particles has been crucial to our understanding of the structure of atoms, the basic units of chemistry and biology and the building blocks out of which we, and everything around us, are made. At the beginning of this century it was thought that atoms were rather like the planets orbiting the sun, with electrons (particles of negative electricity) orbiting around a central nucleus, which carried positive electricity. The attraction between the positive and negative electricity was supposed to keep the electrons in their orbits in the same way that the gravitational attraction between the sun and the planets keeps the planets in their orbits. The trouble with this was that the laws of mechanics and electricity, before quantum mechanics, predicted that the electrons would lose energy and so spiral inward until they collided with the nucleus. This would mean that the atom, and indeed all matter, should rapidly collapse to a state of very high density. A partial solution to this problem was found by the Danish scientist Niels Bohr in 1913. He suggested that maybe the electrons were not able to orbit at just any distance from the central nucleus but only at certain specified distances. If one also supposed that only one or two electrons could orbit at any one of these distances, this would solve the problem of the collapse of the atom, because the electrons could not spiral in any farther than to fill up the orbits with e least distances and energies.

粒子間的干涉現象，對於我們理解作為化學和生物以及由之構成我們和我們周圍的所有東西的基本單元的原子的結構是關鍵的。在本世紀初，人們認為原子和行星繞著太陽公轉相當類似，在這兒電子（帶負電荷的粒子）繞著帶正電荷的中心的核轉動。正電荷和負電荷之間的吸引力被認為是用以維持電子的軌道，正如同行星和太陽之間的萬有引力用以維持行星的軌道一樣。麻煩在於，在量子力學之前，力學和電學的定律預言，電子會失去能量並以螺旋線的軌道落向並最終撞擊到核上去。這表明原子（實際上所有的物質）都會很快地坍縮成一種非常緊密的狀態。丹麥科學家尼爾斯·玻爾在1913年，為此問題找到了部分的解答。他認為，也許電子不能允許在離中心核任意遠的地方，而只允許在一些指定的距離處公轉。如果我們再假定，只有一個或兩個電子能在這些距離上的任一軌道上公轉，那就解決了原子坍縮的問題。因為電子除了充滿最小距離和最小能量的軌道外，不能進一步作螺旋運動向核靠近。

This model explained quite well the structure of the simplest atom, hydrogen, which has only one electron orbiting around the nucleus. But it was not clear how one ought to extend it to more complicated atoms. Moreover, the idea of a limited set of allowed orbits seemed very arbitrary. The new theory of quantum mechanics resolved this difficulty. It revealed that an electron orbiting around the nucleus could be thought of as a wave, with a wavelength that depended on its velocity. For certain orbits, the length of the orbit would correspond to a whole number (as opposed to a fractional number) of wavelengths of the electron. For these orbits the wave crest would be in the same position each time round, so the waves would add up: these orbits would correspond to Bohr』s allowed orbits. However, for orbits whose lengths were not a whole number of wavelengths, each wave crest would eventually be canceled out by a trough as the electrons went round; these orbits would not be allowed.

對於最簡單的原子——氫原子，這個模型給出了相當好的解釋，這兒只有一個電子繞著氫原子核運動。但人們不清楚如何將其推廣到更複雜的原子去。並且，對於可允許軌道的有限集合的思想顯得非常任意。量子力學的新理論解決了這一困難。原來一個繞核運動的電荷可看成一種波，其波長依賴於其速度。對於一定的軌道，軌道的長度對應於整數（而不是分數）倍電子的波長。對於這些軌道，每繞一圈波峰總在同一位置，所以波就互相迭加；這些軌道對應於玻爾的可允許的軌道。然而，對於那些長度不為波長整數倍的軌道，當電子繞著運動時，每個波峰將最終被波谷所抵消；這些軌道是不能允許的。

A nice way of visualizing the wave/particle duality is the so-called sum over histories introduced by the American scientist Richard Feynman. In this approach the particle is not supposed to have a single history or path in space-time, as it would in a classical, nonquantum theory. Instead it is supposed to go from A to B by every possible path. With each path there are associated a couple of numbers: one represents the size of a wave and the other represents the position in the cycle (i.e., whether it is at a crest or a trough). The probability of going from A to B is found by adding up the waves for all the paths. In general, if one compares a set of neighboring paths, the phases or positions in the cycle will differ greatly. This means that the waves associated with these paths will almost exactly cancel each other out. However, for some sets of neighboring paths the phase will not vary much between paths. The waves for these paths will not cancel out Such paths correspond to Bohr』s allowed orbits.

美國科學家裡查德·費因曼引入的所謂對歷史求和（即路徑積分）的方法是一個波粒二像性的很好的摹寫。在這方法中，粒子不像在經典亦即非量子理論中那樣，在時空中只有一個歷史或一個軌道，而是認為從A到B粒子可走任何可能的軌道。對應於每個軌道有一對數：一個數表示波的幅度；另一個表示在周期循環中的位置（即相位）。從A走到B的幾率是將所有軌道的波加起來。一般說來，如果比較一族鄰近的軌道，相位或周期循環中的位置會差別很大。這表明相應於這些軌道的波幾乎都互相抵消了。然而，對於某些鄰近軌道的集合，它們之間的相位沒有很大變化，這些軌道的波不會抵消。這種軌道即對應於玻爾的允許軌道。

With these ideas, in concrete mathematical form, it was relatively straightforward to calculate the allowed orbits in more complicated atoms and even in molecules, which are made up of a number of atoms held together by electrons in orbits that go round more than one nucleus. Since the structure of molecules and their reactions with each other underlie all of chemistry and biology, quantum mechanics allows us in principle to predict nearly everything we see around us, within the limits set by the uncertainty principle. (In practice, however, the calculations required for systems containing more than a few electrons are so complicated that we cannot do them.)

用這些思想以具體的數學形式，可以相對直截了當地計算更複雜的原子甚至分子的允許軌道。分子是由一些原子因軌道上的電子繞著不止一個原子核運動而束縛在一起形成的。由於分子的結構，以及它們之間的反應構成了化學和生物的基礎，除了受測不準原理限制之外，量子力學在原則上允許我們去預言圍繞我們的幾乎一切東西。（然而，實際上對一個包含稍微多幾個電子的系統所需的計算是如此之複雜，以至使我們做不到。）

Einstein』s general theory of relativity seems to govern the large-scale structure of the universe. It is what is called a classical theory; that is, it does not take account of the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, as it should for consistency with other theories. The reason that this does not lead to any discrepancy with observation is that all the gravitational fields that we normally experience are very weak. How-ever, the singularity theorems discussed earlier indicate that the gravitational field should get very strong in at least two situations, black holes and the big bang. In such strong fields the effects of quantum mechanics should be important. Thus, in a sense, classical general relativity, by predicting points of infinite density, predicts its own downfall, just as classical (that is, nonquantum) mechanics predicted its downfall by suggesting that atoms should collapse to infinite density. We do not yet have a complete consistent theory that unifies general relativity and quantum mechanics, but we do know a number of the features it should have. The consequences that these would have for black holes and the big bang will be described in later chapters. For the moment, however, we shall turn to the recent attempts to bring together our understanding of the other forces of nature into a single, unified quantum theory.

看來，愛因斯坦廣義相對論制約了宇宙的大尺度結構，它僅能稱為經典理論，因其中並沒有考慮量子力學的不確定性原理，而為了和其他理論一致這是必須考慮的。這個理論並沒導致和觀測的偏離是因為我們通常經驗到的引力場非常弱。然而，前面討論的奇點定理指出，至少在兩種情形下引力場會變得非常強——黑洞和大爆炸。在這樣強的場里，量子力學效應應該是非常重要的。因此，在某種意義上，經典廣義相對論由於預言無限大密度的點而預示了自身的垮台，正如同經典（也就是非量子）力學由於隱含著原子必須坍縮成無限的密度，而預言自身的垮台一樣。我們還沒有一個完整、協調的統一廣義相對論和量子力學的理論，但我們已知這理論所應有的一系列特徵。在以下幾章我們將描述黑洞和大爆炸的量子引力論效應。然而，此刻我們先轉去介紹人類的許多新近的嘗試，他們試圖對自然界中其他力的理解合併成一個單獨的統一的量子理論。

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