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By the time–energy uncertainty principle, they do not have a definite energy, and, each time they decay, the energy they release is slightly different. The average energy of the outgoing photon has a peak at the theoretical energy of the state, but the distribution has a finite width called the natural linewidth.
The (modulation) signal with respect to this uncertainty can be improved by using a higher light power inside the interferometer arms, since the signal increases with the light power. This is the reason (in fact the only one) why Michelson interferometers for the detection of gravitational waves use very high optical power.
Although the thought experiment was formulated as an introduction to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, one of the pillars of modern physics, it attacks the very premises under which it was constructed, thereby contributing to the development of an area of physics—namely, quantum mechanics—that redefined the terms under which the original thought experiment was conceived.
The uncertainty principle states the uncertainty in energy and time can be related by [4] , where 1 / 2 ħ ≈ 5.272 86 × 10 −35 J⋅s. This means that pairs of virtual particles with energy Δ E {\displaystyle \Delta E} and lifetime shorter than Δ t {\displaystyle \Delta t} are continually created and annihilated in empty space.
Δp x is uncertainty in measured value of momentum, Δt is duration of measurement, v x is velocity of particle before measurement, v′ x is velocity of particle after measurement, ħ is the reduced Planck constant. The measured momentum of the electron is then related to v x, whereas its momentum after the measurement is related to v′ x ...
The uncertainty principle relates the lifetime of an excited state (due to spontaneous radiative decay or the Auger process) with the uncertainty of its energy. Some authors use the term "radiative broadening" to refer specifically to the part of natural broadening caused by the spontaneous radiative decay. [ 4 ]
The photons, ignoring the uncertainty in frequency, will have an uncertainty in its overall phase and number, and assume a known frequency, i.e., = and =. We can substitute these relations into our energy-time uncertainty equation to find the number-phase uncertainty relation or the uncertainty in the phase and photon numbers.
Measurement uncertainty is a value associated with a measurement which expresses the spread of possible values associated with the measurand—a quantitative expression of the doubt existing in the measurement. [35] There are two components to the uncertainty of a measurement: the width of the uncertainty interval and the confidence level. [36]