Title: Observer (quantum physics) - Wikipedia
Headings: Observer (quantum physics)
Observer (quantum physics)
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Content: Observer (quantum physics) - Wikipedia
Observer (quantum physics)
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Some interpretations of quantum mechanics posit a central role for an observer of a quantum phenomenon. The quantum mechanical observer is tied to the issue of observer effect, where a measurement necessarily requires interacting with the physical object being measured, affecting its properties through the interaction. The term "observable" has gained a technical meaning, denoting a Hermitian operator that represents a measurement. The prominence of seemingly subjective or anthropocentric ideas like "observer" in the early development of the theory has been a continuing source of disquiet and philosophical dispute. A number of new-age religious or philosophical views give the observer a more special role, or place constraints on who or what can be an observer. There is no credible peer-reviewed research that backs such claims. As an example of such claims, Fritjof Capra declared, "The crucial feature of atomic physics is that the human observer is not only necessary to observe the properties of an object, but is necessary even to define these properties." The Copenhagen interpretation, which is the most widely accepted interpretation of quantum mechanics among physicists, posits that an "observer" or a "measurement" is merely a physical process. One of the founders of the Copenhagen interpretation, Werner Heisenberg, wrote: Of course the introduction of the observer must not be misunderstood to imply that some kind of subjective features are to be brought into the description of nature.