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Experimental demonstration of a universally valid error-disturbance uncertainty relation in spin-measurements

The uncertainty principle generally prohibits determination of certain pairs of quantum mechanical observables with arbitrary precision and forms the basis of indeterminacy in quantum mechanics. It was Heisenberg who used the famous gamma-ray microscope thought experiment to illustrate this indeterminacy. A lower bound was set for the product of the measurement error of an observable and the disturbance caused by the measurement. Later on, the uncertainty relation was reformulated in terms of standard deviations, which focuses solely on indeterminacy of predictions and neglects unavoidable recoil in measuring devices. A correct formulation of the error-disturbance relation, taking recoil into account, is essential for a deeper understanding of the uncertainty principle. However, the validity of Heisenberg's original error-disturbance uncertainty relation is justifed only under limited circumstances. Another error-disturbance relation, derived by rigorous and general theoretical treatments of quantum measurements, is supposed to be universally valid. Here, we report a neutron optical experiment that records the error of a spin-component measurement as well as the disturbance caused on another spin-component measurement. The results confirm that both error and disturbance completely obey the new, more general relation but violate the old one in a wide range of an experimental parameter.