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Nature 452, 705-706 (10 April 2008) | doi:10.1038/452705a; Published online 9 April 2008
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Quantum physics: Observations turn up the heat
Kimberly R. Chapin1 & Marlan O. Scully2
Abstract
The idea that observers can influence what they observe has a history that stretches back beyond quantum physics. That we can affect how a system heats up and cools down simply by probing it is a new twist.
As the great quantum physicist Werner Heisenberg — he of the uncertainty principle — made plain, in quantum mechanics, separation of the observer from the phenomenon to be observed is not possible. But in fact, the strange idea that consciousness, intelligence and the act of observation are intertwined with physical phenomena predates Heisenberg.
- Kimberly R. Chapin and Marlan O. Scully are at the Institute for Quantum Studies, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
Email: k-chapin@tamu.edu - Marlan O. Scully is also in the Applied Physics and Materials Science Group, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Email: scully@tamu.edu
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