Identity in Physics¶
French, S., & Krause, D. (2006). Identity in Physics: A Historical, Philosophical, and Formal Analysis. Oxford University Press.
Cited by¶
1 citation across 1 artifact.
Each citation links to the sentence it supports in the citing article.
Primes¶
- Criteria of Individuation
- In fundamental physics the question reaches its sharpest form: identical particles are indistinguishable in principle, so the classical identity criterion ("the same one if it has the same trajectory") fails — quantum statistics (Bose–Einstein, Fermi–Dirac) presuppose that permuting two electrons yields no new state, which is to deny them a haecceity, a this-ness over and above their shared properties; the inventory of "how many distinct particles" is fixed by the symmetrization rule, not read off labels the particles do not carry.
This sourceAnalyses the indistinguishability of identical quantum particles, the failure of haecceity, and how symmetrization rules (Bose-Einstein, Fermi-Dirac) fix the inventory rather than reading it off labels.
Supported in partVerified against the publisher's abstract
The book's abstract supports that treating quantum particles as individuals violates the Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles, but it omits the symmetrization-rule and permutation mechanism.
“if quantum particles are regarded as individuals, then Leibniz’s famous Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles is in fact violated”
- In fundamental physics the question reaches its sharpest form: identical particles are indistinguishable in principle, so the classical identity criterion ("the same one if it has the same trajectory") fails — quantum statistics (Bose–Einstein, Fermi–Dirac) presuppose that permuting two electrons yields no new state, which is to deny them a haecceity, a this-ness over and above their shared properties; the inventory of "how many distinct particles" is fixed by the symmetrization rule, not read off labels the particles do not carry.
Verification¶
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