Universality in uncertainty relations for a quantum particle

Abstract

A general theory of preparational uncertainty relations for a quantum particle in one spatial dimension is developed. We derive conditions which determine whether a given smooth function of the particle’s variances and its covariance is bounded from below. Whenever a global minimum exists, an uncertainty relation has been obtained. The squeezed number states of a harmonic oscillator are found to be universal: no other pure or mixed states will saturate any such relation. Geometrically, we identify a convex uncertainty region in the space of second moments which is bounded by the inequality derived by Robertson and Schrödinger. Our approach provides a unified perspective on existing uncertainty relations for a single continuous variable, and it leads to new inequalities for second moments which can be checked experimentally.