Heisenberg

Heisenberg refers to Werner Heisenberg, the German physicist who formulated the uncertainty principle—the idea that you cannot simultaneously know both the position and momentum of a particle with precision.

The name has become shorthand for fundamental limits on knowledge or measurement: It's a Heisenberg situation—observing it changes it.

In popular culture, Heisenberg is the alias of the chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-manufacturer in the television series *Breaking Bad*, where the name suggests transformation and hidden identity.