90 anos do Princípio de Incerteza de Heisenberg: Das grandezas não comutáveis ao artigo de 1927

Abstract

In this work we seek to answer, through a historiographic research, the following question: how did the development of what we know as the uncertainty principle occurred? Or rather: What is the theoretical context that allowed Heisenberg to come to his considerations about the measurement of canonically conjugated quantum greatness? In accordance with this question, we have as a main objective to describe the context and the way in which the "uncertainty principle" was elaborated by Heisenberg. For this, we use important secondary sources and primary documentation, such as the 1927 article, Heisenberg's books, and the correspondence he sent to Pauli shortly before drafting the article. We did not find these materials in the vernacular (only the article, in English). In view of this, we have listed as one of the specific objectives, translating into Portuguese (and commenting) the Heisenberg article of 1927 and translating directly from the German language the original letter sent to Pauli. Besides this, we will also try to understand the elaboration of the "uncertainty principle" based on these sources and the later witness of Heisenberg himself. In general termes, we can see in Heisenberg's considerations not only a physical interpretation of certain aspects of mathematical formalism that supported quantum mechanics at this time, but also an expression of the limitation of our knowledge about the quantum world. We believe that in addition to provide accessible language sources and a more detailed account of how Heisenberg came to his considerations - contributing thus, to the specific literature - our material may also be of value in the higher education classroom for discussion, of the nature of Science, - a subject whose explicit presence is still quite limited, in the training of graduates or bachalors of scientific areas.