Related papers: Indistinguishability
The classical Gibbs paradox concerns the entropy change upon mixing two gases. Whether an observer assigns an entropy increase to the process depends on their ability to distinguish the gases. A resolution is that an "ignorant" observer,…
Here we continue with the ideas expressed in "On the strangeness of quantum mechanics" aiming to demonstrate more concretely how this philosophical outlook might be used as a key for resolving the measurement problem. We will address in…
Quantum mechanics is widely regarded as a complete theory, yet we argue it is a tractable projection of a deeper, computationally-inaccessible classical variational structure. By analyzing the coupled partial differential equations of the…
Standard quantum mechanics unquestionably violates the separability principle that classical physics (be it point-like analytic, statistical, or field-theoretic) accustomed us to consider as valid. In this paper, quantum nonseparability is…
The concept of individuality in quantum mechanics shows radical differences from the concept of individuality in classical physics, as E. Schroedinger pointed out in the early steps of the theory. Regarding this fact, some authors suggested…
We study the concepts of compatibility and separability and their implications for quantum and classical systems. These concepts are illustrated on a macroscopic model for the singlet state of a quantum system of two entangled spin 1/2 with…
In this article we argue that in quantum mechanics, and in opposition to classical physics, it is impossible to say that an isolated quantum system "owns" a physical property. Some properties of the system, its mass for example, belong to…
Quantum coherence plays a fundamental and operational role in different areas of physics. A resource theory has been developed to characterize the coherence of distinguishable particles systems. Here we show that indistinguishability of…
We discuss the distinction between the notion of partial observable and the notion of complete observable. Mixing up the two is frequently a source of confusion. The distinction bears on several issues related to observability, such as (i)…
Colloidal particles are distinguishable. Moreover, their thermodynamic properties are extensive. Statistical Mechanics predicts such behaviour if one accepts that the configurational integral of a system of N colloids must be divided by N!.…
Defining the entropy of classical particles raises a number of paradoxes and ambiguities, some of which have been known for over a century. Several, such as Gibbs' paradox, involve the fact that classical particles are distinguishable, and…
In this paper of "The Epistemology of Contemporary Physics" series we investigate the epistemological significance and sensibility (and hence interpretability and interpretation) of classical mechanics in its Newtonian and non-Newtonian…
One of the basic observations of the classical world is that physical entities are real and can be distinguished from each other. However, within quantum theory, the idea of physical realism is not well established. A framework to analyse…
We briefly show how classical mechanics can be rederived and better understood as a consequence of three assumptions: infinitesimal reducibility, deterministic and reversible evolution, and kinematic equivalence.
This paper examines the incommensurability thesis - one of the most important and controversial ideas to emerge from the simultaneous work of Kuhn and Feyerabend. In the first half, I discuss three aspects of incommensurability -…
The paper develops the idea that the dynamics of both classical and quantum processes is time reversible. It is shown how this classical analogy allows one to define the measure for the path integral in quantum mechanics.
A tradition handed down among physicists maintains that classical physics is a perfectly deterministic theory capable of predicting the future with absolute certainty, independently of any interpretations. It also tells that it was quantum…
We point out an earlier unnoticed implication of quantum indistinguishability, namely, a property which we call `dualism' that characterizes the entanglement of two identical particles (say, two ions of the same species) -- a feature which…
In this paper, we discuss content and context for quantum properties. We give some examples of why quantum properties are problematic: they depend on the context in a non-trivial way. We then connect this difficulty with properties to the…
We discuss a reconstruction of standard quantum mechanics assuming indistinguishability right from the start, by appealing to quasi-set theory. After recalling the fundamental aspects of the construction and introducing some improvements in…