The relevance of time-delayed coincidence Mössbauer experiments for the interpretation of the uncertainty principle

Abstract

Time-delayed coincidence Mössbauer experiments, in which the spread in energy may be either greater or less than the natural linewidth, are discussed. This discussion leads to the conclusion that in the uncertainty relation ΔE Δt ≥$\begin{array}{*{20}c} / \\ h \\ \end{array} /2$, Δt should be interpreted as the duration time of the measurement and not as the lifetime of the state. Further analysis shows that confinement of photons to the region of space between emitter and absorber should cause a frequency spread much larger than actually observed. This leads to the conclusion that to think of photons as being created at one point in space, traveling with the velocity of light to another point, then being absorbed or destroyed, is incorrect.