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Statistics, Symmetry, and the Conventionality of Indistinguishability in Quantum Mechanics

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Abstract

The question to be addressed is, In what sense and to what extent do quantum statistics for, and the standard formal quantum-mechanical description of, systems of many identical particles entail that identical quantum particles are indistinguishable? This paper argues that whether or not we consider identical quantum particles as indistinguishable is a matter of theory choice underdetermined by logic and experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556

    Darrin W. Belousek

  2. Department of Bible, Religion, and Philosophy, Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana, 46526

    Darrin W. Belousek

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  1. Darrin W. Belousek
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Belousek, D.W. Statistics, Symmetry, and the Conventionality of Indistinguishability in Quantum Mechanics. Foundations of Physics 30, 1–34 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003658107978

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