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Identity and Indiscernibility in Quantum MechanicsTwo Views on Quantum Individuation: A Comparison

Identity and Indiscernibility in Quantum Mechanics: Two Views on Quantum Individuation: A Comparison [The first part of this chapter contains a conceptual and philosophical criticism of the orthodox approach to quantum individuation, with its commitment to Factorism and the Indiscernibility Thesis. It is pointed out that the complete indiscernibility of same-type quantum particles is at odds with scientific practice, and it produces incorrect predictions in the classical limit as well as the quantum field limit. We also scrutinize an argument from the Fock space formalism in favor of the non-individualistic conception of quanta. We show that the occupation number formalism actually supports the thesis that quantum particles can be discerned from each other in the majority of cases. In the second part we discuss a major conceptual problem affecting the heterodox approach to individuality. The ambiguity problem, as we call it, stems from the fact that usually there is more than one way to individuate the components of a composite system using symmetric projectors. Several proposals of how to deal with this problem are suggested, including the preferred basis solution and the perspectivalist solution, according to which the individuation and the very existence of the components is relativized to a choice of basis (a maximal set of compatible observables).] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

Identity and Indiscernibility in Quantum MechanicsTwo Views on Quantum Individuation: A Comparison

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References (9)

Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Copyright
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
ISBN
978-3-030-74869-2
Pages
177 –211
DOI
10.1007/978-3-030-74870-8_7
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[The first part of this chapter contains a conceptual and philosophical criticism of the orthodox approach to quantum individuation, with its commitment to Factorism and the Indiscernibility Thesis. It is pointed out that the complete indiscernibility of same-type quantum particles is at odds with scientific practice, and it produces incorrect predictions in the classical limit as well as the quantum field limit. We also scrutinize an argument from the Fock space formalism in favor of the non-individualistic conception of quanta. We show that the occupation number formalism actually supports the thesis that quantum particles can be discerned from each other in the majority of cases. In the second part we discuss a major conceptual problem affecting the heterodox approach to individuality. The ambiguity problem, as we call it, stems from the fact that usually there is more than one way to individuate the components of a composite system using symmetric projectors. Several proposals of how to deal with this problem are suggested, including the preferred basis solution and the perspectivalist solution, according to which the individuation and the very existence of the components is relativized to a choice of basis (a maximal set of compatible observables).]

Published: Jan 3, 2022

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