Word.ws English Dictionary

Heisenberg cut

Heisenberg cut noun: a conceptualised division separating the quantum system being observed from the classical system that comprises the observer's information, knowledge and conscious awareness.

Noun

Heisenberg cut (plural Heisenberg cuts)

  1. (quantum mechanics) A conceptualised division separating the quantum system being observed from the classical system that comprises the observer's information, knowledge and conscious awareness.
    • The original "Copenhagen" way of describing the collapse process was tied to a mysterious thing called the "Heisenberg cut". Everything lying "below" this cut was supposed to be described in the mathematical language of quantum mechanics, whereas everything lying "above" the cut was described...2014, Henry P. Stapp, “Quantum Physics and Philosophy of Mind”, in Antonella Corradini, Uwe Meixner, editors, Quantum Physics Meets the Philosophy of Mind, Walter de Gruyter, page 9
    • Another idea is to question the impermeability of the Heisenberg cut: Is the separation between the macro and micro worlds really as sharp as Heisenberg and Bohr assumed?2018, Lars Jaeger, The Second Quantum Revolution, Springer, page 252

Examples of Heisenberg cut in a sentence

  • The original "Copenhagen" way of describing the collapse process was tied to a mysterious thing called the "Heisenberg cut".2014, Henry P. Stapp, “Quantum Physics and Philosophy of Mind”, in Antonella Corradini, Uwe Meixner, editors, Quantum Physics Meets the...
  • The location of the Heisenberg cut is arbitrary, but it must be at a point where classical physics assuredly holds.2021, Carl S. Helrich, The Quantum Theory—Origins and Ideas, Springer, page 192:

Forms of Heisenberg cut

pluralHeisenberg cuts
alternative formHeisenberg's cut

Origin of Heisenberg cut

Named after Werner Heisenberg, who contributed to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, and specifically to the theory of wavefunction collapse.

Questions about Heisenberg cut

What does Heisenberg cut mean?
Heisenberg cut means a conceptualised division separating the quantum system being observed from the classical system that comprises the observer's information, knowledge and conscious awareness.
How do you use Heisenberg cut in a sentence?
The original "Copenhagen" way of describing the collapse process was tied to a mysterious thing called the "Heisenberg cut".
What part of speech is Heisenberg cut?
Heisenberg cut is a noun.
What is the plural of Heisenberg cut?
The plural of Heisenberg cut is Heisenberg cuts.

Words near Heisenberg cut in the dictionary

  1. heirships
  2. heis
  3. Heise
  4. Heisei
  5. Heisenberg
  6. Heisenberg cut
  7. Heisenberg cuts
  8. Heisenberg group
  9. Heisenberg picture
  10. Heisenberg pictures
  11. Heisenberg principle

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Heisenberg cut (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “Heisenberg cut.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/heisenberg_cut. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.