Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Tulip
I am interpreting the HUP just as a limit example of the observer effect, meaning that while causality must operate, the act of looking for it obliterates the trace. I will leave it to the physicists to discuss hidden variables as that is beyond my competence. Is it correct that this apparent limit to our perception creates a blockage regarding the integration of the four forces into a grand unified theory?
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In case Ken G's comments did not clarify this point:
The evidence clearly shows that the HUP is NOT somehow a result of lack of knowledge, or that we somehow disturb particles by observation. It is fundamental.
For example, you can test the spin of a photon in a particular direction repeatedly, and will always get the same answer. Obviously the spin observation itself does not alter the photon just because it is being observed, because the answer remains the same. But try observing that same photon at other angles, and uncertainty and chance will be introduced - just in the amount (and no more) as the HUP would predict!
Also: Einstein imagined in his EPR paper that the HUP could be beaten by entangled particles and performing measurements once they were separated by a suitable distance. But we know now that the HUP still applies in this situation, and you cannot use entanglement as a way to exceed the limits of the HUP.
How the HUP operates is itself a mystery, and one which continues to lead to tantalizing possibilities such as Many Worlds and Bohmian Mechanics. There are very few professional scientists who hold the opinion that there exist local hidden variables (as you seem to imply). This possibility was ruled out with the advent of Bell's Theorem.
As far as anyone knows, the HUP has nothing to do with issues involving unification of gravity with the other 3 forces (strong-electro-weak).