The Case Against Factorism: On the Labels of ⊗-Factor Hilbert-Spaces of Similar Particles in Quantum Mechanics

We discuss the case against Factorism , which is the standard assumption in quantum mechanics that the labels of the ⊗ -factor Hilbert-spaces in direct-product Hilbert-spaces of composite physical systems of similar particles refer to particles, either directly or descriptively . We distinguish diff...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal for general philosophy of science Vol. 53; no. 3; pp. 291 - 306
Main Authors Muller, F. A., Leegwater, Gijs
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.09.2022
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Education
History
Labels
Methodology of the Social Sciences
Philosophy
Philosophy of Education
Philosophy of Science
Quantum theory
Social Sciences
Similar particles
Factorism
Quantum mechanics
Elementary particles
Discernibility
Identical particles
Distinguishability
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ISSN0925-4560
1572-8587
DOI10.1007/s10838-020-09514-6

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Summary:We discuss the case against Factorism , which is the standard assumption in quantum mechanics that the labels of the ⊗ -factor Hilbert-spaces in direct-product Hilbert-spaces of composite physical systems of similar particles refer to particles, either directly or descriptively . We distinguish different versions of Factorism and argue for their truth or falsehood. In particular, by introducing the concepts of snapshot Hilbert-space and Schrödinger-movie , we demonstrate that there are Hilbert-spaces and ⊗ -factorisations where the labels do refer, even descriptively, to similar particles, which renders them probabilistically absolutely discernible.
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ISSN:0925-4560
1572-8587
DOI:10.1007/s10838-020-09514-6