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Originally Posted by renormalised
Not necessarily....we've yet to really play around with this physics. In any case, if you can't measure the quantity of energy within a system due to quantum uncertainty, who's to say the law applies anyway. It maybe like GR, only a macroscopic level reality and when you consider quantum level processes then the law becomes approximate or even untenable at a certain level of process. That doesn't mean to say that perpetual motion is possible. Just that we don't know what's really going on and it maybe that we have to modify our understanding of energy conservation on these levels (like gravity) in order to be able to see what's really happening.
Still doesn't let off the EU guys or any other mob of crackpots  |
Fair enough, Carl. I think I get where you're coming from.
Actually, interestingly and along the same lines, I was reading this article the other day ..
Quantum physics first: Researchers observe single photons in two-slit interferometer experiment
The interesting bit is right at the end in the Abstract of the paper …
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A consequence of the quantum mechanical uncertainty principle is that one may not discuss the path or “trajectory” that a quantum particle takes, because any measurement of position irrevocably disturbs the momentum, and vice versa. Using weak measurements, however, it is possible to operationally define a set of trajectories for an ensemble of quantum particles. We sent single photons emitted by a quantum dot through a double-slit interferometer and reconstructed these trajectories by performing a weak measurement of the photon momentum, postselected according to the result of a strong measurement of photon position in a series of planes. The results provide an observationally grounded description of the propagation of subensembles of quantum particles in a two-slit interferometer.
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.. so there ya go … this may be a practical example of what (I think) you might be alluding to.
The trajectory has been cunningly measured by thinking around the seeming 'obstacle' of the Uncertainty Principle.
Very clever, and full marks to 'em ! ...
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It shows that long-neglected questions about the different types of measurement possible in quantum mechanics can finally be addressed in the lab, and weak measurements such as the sort we use in this work may prove crucial in studying all sorts of new phenomena.
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Great stuff !
Just goes to show that scientific 'Laws', 'Principles', 'Theories', etc are all fair game in science .. and they don't necessarily inhibit progress (unlike what many 'critics' mistakingly claim).
Cheers