Title: Observing a Phenomenon Affects Its Outcome - Fact or Myth?
Headings: Observing a Phenomenon Affects Its Outcome
Observing a Phenomenon Affects Its Outcome Fact
Can Observing Something Change Its Outcome?
Quick Summary of the Observer Effect
The Observer Effect
Dual Wave-Particles and the Double-Slit Experiment
Double-Slit Experiment:
Schrödinger’s Cat
Wavefunction Collapse and Quantum Superposition
The Uncertainty Principle
What We Know Today
Conclusion
References
Citations

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A video explaining the difference between Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, the Observer effect, and the dual wave-particle nature of sub-atomic particles like electrons. What Do We Mean By Observe? When we say that we observe something, we mean that we determine the properties of a given thing as a result of an experiment. “ Measurement” does not mean only a process in which an observer takes part, but rather an interaction between classical and quantum objects regardless of an observer. So for instance, using technology to measure the outcome of an experiment is “observation”. This is different from mathematics where measurement is based strictly on numbers. [ 1]
TIP : Massless energy particles, like the photon, are fields with excited states called particles (quantum field theory). It’s assumed that our measuring devices affect the field and result in the “observer effect”.