English

Discerning "indistinguishable" quantum systems

Quantum Physics 2014-09-02 v1

Abstract

In a series of recent papers, Simon Saunders, Fred Muller and Michael Seevinck have collectively argued, against the philosophy of quantum mechanics folklore, that some non-trivial version of Leibniz's principle of the identity of indiscernibles is upheld in quantum mechanics. They argue that all particles -- fermions, paraparticles, anyons, even bosons -- may be weakly discerned by some physical relation. Here I show that their arguments make illegitimate appeal to non-symmetric, i.e. permutation-non-invariant, quantities, and that therefore their conclusions do not go through. However, I show that alternative, symmetric quantities may be found to do the required work. I conclude that the Saunders-Muller-Seevinck heterodoxy can be saved after all.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1409.0249,
  title  = {Discerning "indistinguishable" quantum systems},
  author = {Adam Caulton},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1409.0249},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

27 pages. This is a pre-print of an article published in Philosophy of Science

R2 v1 2026-06-22T05:45:03.284Z