2011 • Conference Paper
The Observer Effect in Estimation with Physical Communication Constraints
Authors:
Sandberg, Henrik,
Delvenne, Jean-Charles
Published in:
18th IFAC World Congress
In this paper, we derive physical limitations on measurements of linear systems. We show that there is a trade-off between how precise a measurement is and how much we must perturb the measured system. This effect, very different from Heisenberg's inequality, originates in the thermal noise of the communication line between the measured system and the measuring device. This observer effect is shown to be relevant for small systems as found in nanoscience and microbiology.