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MOST IMPORTANT SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES
The principle of complementarity. History and essence of scientific discovery
Directory / The most important scientific discoveries A principle that is very precise and capacious Bor called complementarity - one of the most profound philosophical and natural-scientific ideas of the present time. Only such ideas as the principle of relativity or the idea of a physical field can be compared with it. "In the years preceding N. Bohr's speech in Como, there were numerous discussions about the physical interpretation of quantum theory," writes W. I. Frankfurt. quantum theory - in the postulate, according to which every atomic process is characterized by discontinuity, alien to the classical theory. Quantum theory recognizes as one of its main provisions the fundamental limitation of classical concepts when applied to atomic phenomena, which is alien to classical physics, but at the same time, the interpretation of empirical material is based mainly on the application of classical concepts. Because of this, significant difficulties arise in the formulation of quantum theory. The classical theory assumes that a physical phenomenon can be considered without having a fundamentally irremovable influence on it. For the report at the International Congress of Physics in Como "Quantum postulate and the latest development of atomic theory" in view of the importance of the problems discussed, Bohr was given four times the time limit. The discussion on his report occupied the rest of the congress. “... The discovery of the universal quantum of action,” Niels Bohr said, “led to the need for further analysis of the problem of observation. It follows from this discovery that the whole method of description characteristic of classical physics (including the theory of relativity) remains applicable only as long as while all the magnitudes of the action dimension included in the description are large in comparison with the action quantum Planck. If this condition is not satisfied, as is the case in the field of phenomena of atomic physics, then regularities of a special kind come into force, which cannot be included in the framework of a causal description ... This result, which initially seemed paradoxical, however, finds its explanation in the fact that in this area it is no longer possible to draw a clear line between the independent behavior of a physical object and its interaction with other bodies used as measuring instruments; such an interaction necessarily arises in the process of observation and cannot be directly taken into account by the very meaning of the concept of measurement... This circumstance actually means the emergence of a completely new situation in physics in relation to the analysis and synthesis of experimental data. It forces us to replace the classical ideal of causation with some more general principle, usually called "complementary". The information about the behavior of the objects under study that we obtain with the help of various measuring instruments, while seemingly incompatible, in reality cannot be directly related to each other in the usual way, but must be considered as complementary to each other. Thus, in particular, the failure of any attempt to consistently analyze the "individuality" of a separate atomic process, which, it would seem, symbolizes the quantum of action, by dividing such a process into separate parts, is explained by the failure. This is due to the fact that if we want to fix by direct observation any moment in the course of the process, then we need to use a measuring device for this, the use of which cannot be consistent with the laws of the course of this process. Between the postulate of the theory of relativity and the principle of complementarity, with all their differences, one can see a certain formal analogy. It lies in the fact that, just as in the theory of relativity, regularities that have a different shape in different frames of reference due to the finiteness of the speed of light turn out to be equivalent, so, in the principle of complementarity, regularities studied with the help of various measuring instruments and seeming mutually contradictory due to the finiteness of the quantum of action, are logically compatible. In order to give as clear a picture as possible of the situation that has developed in atomic physics, which is completely new from the point of view of the theory of knowledge, we would like here, first of all, to consider in some detail such measurements, the purpose of which is to control the spatio-temporal course of some physical process. Such control ultimately always comes down to establishing a certain number of unambiguous relationships between the behavior of an object and the scales and clocks that determine the spatio-temporal frame of reference we use. We can only speak about the independent behavior of the object of study in space and time, independent of the conditions of observation, when, when describing all the conditions that are essential for the process under consideration, we can completely neglect the interaction of the object with the measuring device, which inevitably arises when the above connections are established. If, as is the case in the quantum domain, such an interaction itself has a great influence on the course of the phenomenon under study, the situation changes completely, and we, in particular, must abandon the connection between the spatiotemporal characteristics of an event and the universal dynamical laws, which is characteristic of the classical description. conservation. This follows from the fact that the use of scales and clocks to establish a reference system, by definition, excludes the possibility of taking into account the magnitudes of momentum and energy transferred to the measuring device during the phenomenon under consideration. Similarly, and vice versa, quantum laws, in the formulation of which the concepts of momentum or energy are essentially used, can only be verified under such experimental conditions, when strict control over the spatiotemporal behavior of the object is excluded. According to the uncertainty relation Heisenberg, it is impossible to determine both characteristics of an atomic object - coordinate and momentum - in the same experiment. But Bohr went further. He noted that the coordinate and momentum of an atomic particle cannot be measured not only simultaneously, but in general with the help of the same instrument. Indeed, to measure the momentum of an atomic particle, an extremely light mobile "instrument" is needed. But precisely because of his mobility, his position is very uncertain. To measure the coordinate, you need a very massive "device" that would not move when a particle hits it. But no matter how her momentum changes in this case, we will not even notice it. “Additionality is that word and that turn of thought that became available to everyone thanks to Bohr,” writes L.I. judgments and explained: yes, their properties are indeed incompatible, but for a complete description of an atomic object, both of them are equally necessary and therefore do not contradict, but complement each other. This simple argument about the complementarity of the properties of two incompatible devices explains well the meaning of the principle of complementarity, but by no means exhausts it. In fact, we need instruments not by themselves, but only to measure the properties of atomic objects. The x-coordinate and the momentum p are the concepts that correspond to two properties measured with two instruments. In the chain of knowledge familiar to us - a phenomenon - an image, a concept, a formula, the principle of complementarity affects primarily the system of concepts of quantum mechanics and the logic of its conclusions. The fact is that among the strict provisions of formal logic there is the "rule of the excluded middle", which says: of two opposite statements, one is true, the other is false, and there cannot be a third. In classical physics, there was no occasion to doubt this rule, since there the concepts of "wave" and "particle" are really opposite and essentially incompatible. It turned out, however, that in atomic physics both of them are equally well applicable for describing the properties of the same objects, and for a complete description it is necessary to use them simultaneously. Bohr's principle of complementarity is a successful attempt to reconcile the shortcomings of an established system of concepts with the progress of our knowledge of the world. This principle expanded the possibilities of our thinking, explaining that in atomic physics not only concepts change, but also the very formulation of questions about the essence of physical phenomena. But the significance of the principle of complementarity goes far beyond quantum mechanics, where it originally arose. Only later - when trying to extend it to other areas of science - did its true meaning for the entire system of human knowledge become clear. One can argue about the legitimacy of such a step, but one cannot deny its fruitfulness in all cases, even those far from physics. "Bohr showed," notes Ponomarev, "that the question 'Wave or particle?', as applied to an atomic object, is incorrectly posed. The atom does not have such separate properties, and therefore the question does not allow an unambiguous answer "yes" or "no." In the same way , as there is no answer to the question: “Which is larger: a meter or a kilogram?”, And any other questions of a similar type. Two additional properties of atomic reality cannot be separated without destroying the completeness and unity of the natural phenomenon that we call the atom... ...An atomic object is neither a particle nor a wave, and even neither at the same time. An atomic object is something third, not equal to the simple sum of the properties of a wave and a particle. This atomic "something" is beyond our five senses, and yet it is certainly real. We do not have images and senses to fully imagine the properties of this reality. However, the strength of our intellect, based on experience, allows us to know it without it. In the end (it must be admitted that Born was right), "... now the atomic physicist has gone far from the idyllic ideas of the old-fashioned naturalist who hoped to penetrate the secrets of nature, lying in wait for butterflies in the meadow." Author: Samin D.K.
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