In quantum mechanics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle prevents an external observer from measuring both the position and speed (referred to as momentum) of a particle at the same time. They can only know with a high degree of certainty either one or the other—unlike what happens at large scales where both are known. To identify a given particle’s characteristics, physicists introduced the notion of quasi-distribution of position and momentum. This approach was an attempt to reconcile quantum-scale interpretation of what is happening in particles with the standard approach used to understand motion at normal scale, a field dubbed classical mechanics.
![](https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/csz/news/tmb/2018/1-quantum.jpg)
Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-04-infinite-quantum-particles-clues-big-picture.html