"Bohr: Uncertainty and complementarity became the two central tenets of the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics." (p. 70)
In my discussion group we talked a lot about uncertainty (Heisenberg's contribution), but we never talked about complementarity (Bohr's contribution). Both were central themes of the play.
In quantum mechanics, complementarity refers to the wave-particle duality of matter and energy. Einstein showed that matter can be converted into energy and vice versa. Quantum mechanics showed that matter and energy have both particle-like characteristics and wave-like characteristics. The principle of complementarity states that "a single quantum mechanical entity can either behave as a particle or as wave, but never simultaneously as both; that a stronger manifestation of the particle nature leads to a weaker manifestation of the wave nature and vice versa."
As I mentioned in an earlier post, it is dangerous to apply scientific concepts beyond their original meaning. But we do it all the time: the discussion of uncertainty as applied to human thoughts, intentions and memories is far beyond the mathematical expression of the uncertainty principle that Heisenberg developed. (See equations here.) Nevertheless we try to extend scientific principles into other areas because it seems to ring true. We should always keep in mind that it might not be true.
The application of the principle of complementarity beyond quantum mechanics was supported by Bohr himself:
Complementarity became his idée fixe, and Bohr began to see it everywhere. (source, p. 201)
Complementarity means that nature exhibits a duality. Quantum mechanics shows this at the most basic level of nature: elementary particles exhibit a wave-particle duality. Bohr was not the first to notice that nature often exhibits a duality: night-day, life-death, male-female. This idea goes back at least to the concept of yin and yang in ancient Chinese philosophy.
The highest order of the Danish government is the Order of the Elephant, awarded to Danish royalty and sometimes to foreign heads of state. It is rarely awarded to a commoner. It was awarded to Niels Bohr in 1947. (Tycho Brahe was another Danish scientist awarded this order in 1578.) Being a commoner, Bohr did not have a coat of arms and upon receiving the order he designed his own. His coat of arms featured the symbol of yin and yang at the center, and the Latin motto contraria sunt complementa (opposites are complementary).
Here is a picture (source):
Like the theme of uncertainty, a theme of complementarity also runs through the play: friend-enemy; mentor (Bohr) and mentee (Heisenberg); skiing fast (Heisenberg) vs. skiing slow (Bohr); mathematics (Heisenberg) vs. language (Bohr); Bohr and Heisenberg working together vs. working apart.This theme of complementarity is particularly interesting given the context of the discussion itself at Colorado College. What better example of complementarity than "Freedom and Authority"?
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On the theme of mathematics vs. language, I have to tell a story, especially since it has a New Zealand connection. One of the scientists who helped develop atomic physics, thereby laying the foundation for quantum mechanics, was Ernest Rutherford of New Zealand. Although a physicist, he won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1908. The relationship between Rutherford and Bohr was similar to the relationship between Bohr and Heisenberg: mentor/mentee, almost father/son.
Like Bohr, Rutherford favored language over mathematics. "Rutherford liked to say, in his booming manner, that any physicist worth his salt ought to be able to explain his researches to a barmaid, otherwise what was the point?" (source, p. 61)
I love Rutherford's language. Check out more of his quotes on Wikiquote. There are some gems!
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