We present the uncertainty relation for the characteristic functions (ChUR) of the quantum mechanical position and momentum probability distributions. This inequality is more general than the Heisenberg uncertainty relation and is saturated in two extreme cases for wave functions described by periodic Dirac combs. We further discuss a broad spectrum of applications of the ChUR; in particular, we constrain quantum optical measurements involving general detection apertures and provide the uncertainty relation that is relevant for loop quantum cosmology. A method to measure the characteristic function directly using an auxiliary qubit is also briefly discussed.

• Received 20 May 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.93.022109