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I'm a mechanical engineer by training, so please forgive ignorance in my question.

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle states (to my understanding) that one cannot measure both position and momentum to arbitrarily high accuracy, but does this imply (or does this not imply) that one cannot measure one and predict the other?

Consider the following thought experiment. Construct a box with a button and screen on the outside. When the button is pressed, a number between 0 and 1 appears on the screen. Let's suppose that the number on the screen represents the results of an experiment. If a troll is inside the box and uses an algorithm to decide what number is displayed (let's say a pseudo-random number generator), then couldn't someone on the outside of the box theoretically guess what algorithm is being used?

I guess the question I'm asking is: although physics can be accurately described by a stochastic model, does this imply that developing a non-stochastic model is impossible?

Qmechanic
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Charles
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    Your "troll" model suggests that quantum observables can be modeled as classical random variables (where the randomness resides in our lack of knowledge of the troll's algorithm). This, however, contradicts both quantum mechanics and experimental evidence, so if you you believe either the theory or the evidence, your proposal won't work. – WillO Apr 25 '16 at 16:21
  • See also Is the uncertainty principle a property of elementary particles or a result of our measurement tools?. – John Rennie Apr 25 '16 at 16:26
  • @WillO as far as I know non-local hidden variable theories have not been ruled out –  Apr 25 '16 at 18:15
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    There is a deep misunderstanding here that goes back to Schroedinger's nonsensical cat. "A box" is not a closed physical system when it can show a result of a quantum phenomenon. A quantum system that is truly closed does not produce measurements, and in that case its evolution is 100% unitary and predictable. Any system that does produce measurements, on the other hand, is open and it is this openness that causes the uncertainty. Unfortunately there has been a lot of misinformation about this out there. – CuriousOne Apr 25 '16 at 18:48

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