MY knowledge of the uncertainty principle is that since we can’t accuratley ‘see’ subatomic particles without changing them, data about them is unknowable. But, if we could observe them without disturbing them, could we open Schroedinger’s box in the non-Gordian sense?
I think you mean “Heisenberg”. And that applies to a limited accuracy of two measurements at the same time. I.e., there will always be a tiny uncertainty in knowing the simultaneous position and speed of an particle. If you just want to measure one property, the accuracy can be quite high.
We know the rest masses of all the well known atomic particles to a phenomenal degree. Since rest mass can be used to calculate particles’ gravitational pull, we therefore know those quite well.
I think hes asking if you could perhaps triangulate a particles pos’n via gravity using a couple measuring points and not have to worry about the whole quantum mess…
This would allow you to calculate the gravitational force, but not measure it - different things.
In any case - for a description of gravity operating at the quantum level, wouldn’t we need the existence of gravitons, which would perturb the system being measured in the same way as any other means of measurement?
No, we cannot measure gravity from anything yet, but we can infer what the mass is by its effect on other things.
And it is important to recognize that the reason that we cannot measure the exact position of a sub atomic particle is because it doesn’t have an exact position. Sub atomic particles behave according to the rules of quantum mechanics, and they are completely different from our experience of how things our size work. An electron, for example, is somewhere within what is called an “orbital cloud”. That does not mean that it is like a planet and we merely don’t know because we don’t have the ability to measure, but rather, it is simultaneously in a great many number of possible positions within the area of the “orbital cloud”, yet still a wave/particle. If you understand that, you are either brilliant, or fooling yourself. If you are reading this thread, the odds are the latter. They used to say in the old days that only Einstein and a half dozen others understood General Relativity, and that no one understood Quantum Mechanics. The data prove the above, but nobody understands why because it is so alien to our experience.