The Uncertainty Principle

Dr. M Aslam Khan

Department of Physics
Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology
Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan
aslam.khan@kfueit.edu.pk

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Recommended Books

PHYS-3110 Quantum Mechanics-I

1 David J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, Pearson
Prentice Hall; 2nd edition .
2 Nouredine Zettili, Quantum Mechanics: Concepts and
Applications, Wiley, 2nd edition.
3 Richard L. Liboff, Introductory Quantum Mechanics, Addison
Wesley; 4th Edition.
4 B. H. Bransden, C.J. Joachain, Quantum Mechanics, Prentice
Hall; 2nd edition .
5 James Binney , David Skinner, The Physics of Quantum
Mechanics, Oxford University Press; 1 edition.

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The Uncertainty Principle

• A wave if well defined in wavelength (a small spread in

wavelength, i.e., σλ  1) is ill-defined in its exact location (a
large spread in the position, σx  1), and vice-versa.
• In other words, a wave having well defined wavelength is
associated with a large “spread” (σx  1) that roughly
corresponds to the region in space where the wave is to be found.
• This applies, of course, to any wave phenomenon, and hence in
particular to the quantum mechanical wave function Ψ
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 • The wavelength of Ψ is related to the momentum of the particle
by the de Broglie formula
h 2π~
p= =
λ λ
• If a particle were localized, its wave function would become zero
everywhere else and its wave would then have a very short
wavelength. According to de Broglie’s relation, the momentum
of this particle will be rather high. Formally, this mean that if a
particle is accurately localized (i.e4x → 0), there will be total
uncertainty about its momentum (i.e4px → ∞).
• That is, we cannot localize a microscopic particle without giving
to it a rather large momentum.

Dr. M Aslam Khan (KFUEIT) PHYS-3110 Quantum Mechanics-I 4 / 5

 • Hence, the spread in wavelength corresponds to a spread in
momentum. We now says that the more precisely determined a
particle’s position is, the less precisely is its momentum

~
σx σp >
2
• where σx (σp ) is the standard deviation in x (p).
• This is the famous Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle

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