Where Physics and Mysticism don't meet

There is a widely held opinion that a branch of physics called quantum mechanics has produced a number of findings which appear to agree with mystical beliefs. One specific concept which underpins the understanding of atomic scale events is called The Uncertainty Principle

First conceived by German physicist and Nobel Prize winner Werner Heisenberg in 1927, The Uncertainty Principle attempts to explain things which at the time were only theoretical � and in many ways still remain so � the inner workings of atoms.

Heisenberg was trying to determine how to measure the location of an electron orbiting the nucleus of an atom. His Uncertainty Principle roughly states that it is not possible to know both the position and momentum of the electron at the same time. The experimenter, Heisenberg tells us, in the act of �observing� the electron will select one of these two properties to investigate and by doing so will know less about the other. As well, prior to the act of observation, the electron has no definite properties. It exists, in theory, in a range of possible states, some more likely than others. This can be represented by a curve on a graph, indicating the possible states of the electron. This is called a �wave function�.

When the electron is actually detected, the experimenter has measured it�s �actual� state, and therefore the probability of other possible states is eliminated.

This concept has been interpreted by some wishing to validate magical thinking as proof physics supports the idea that through the process of turning your attention to something, that it can be influenced or be made to come into existence. This, however, isn�t what Heisenberg intended. Although the Uncertainty Principle � and quantum mechanics in general � is actually quite odd and subatomic �particles� do not behave in ways which we would expect of everyday objects like balls and airplanes � there is good reason as we shall soon see.

Describing atoms

At the most obvious level, atoms are composed of three types of �particles�, electrons, protons and neutrons. The simplest atom is hydrogen, which is made up of just one proton and one electron. Protons and neutrons are at the centre of the atom and electrons �revolve� around them.

The reason that the previous sentences have the words �particles� and �revolve� marked for emphasis is that these words do not quite manage to describe what scientists believe is the reality of the atom.

Experiments have shown that the �particle� components of atoms (electrons, protons, neutrons etc.) sometimes seem as if they are particles � which have a location at a certain point � and sometimes they behave more like waves � oscillating in peaks and troughs at a particular frequency. A fairly famous example of this is called the �Double-slit experiment� and it demonstrates this wave-particle property for photons the particle responsible for electromagnetism � light.

Lets' take a look at the Double-Slit experiment