dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaOn the explanation for quantum statistics
| Authors | Simon Saunders |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0511136 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0511136 |
Abstract
The concept of classical indistinguishability is analyzed and defended against a number of well-known criticisms, with particular attention to the Gibbs' paradox. Granted that it is as much at home in classical as in quantum statistical mechanics, the question arises as to why indistinguishability, in quantum mechanics but not in classical mechanics, forces a change in statistics. The answer, illustrated with simple examples, is that the equilibrium measure on classical phase space is continuous, whilst on Hilbert space it is discrete. The relevance of names, or equivalently, properties stable in time that can be used as names, is also discussed.
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"abstract": "The concept of classical indistinguishability is analyzed and defended\nagainst a number of well-known criticisms, with particular attention to the\nGibbs\u0027 paradox. Granted that it is as much at home in classical as in quantum\nstatistical mechanics, the question arises as to why indistinguishability, in\nquantum mechanics but not in classical mechanics, forces a change in\nstatistics. The answer, illustrated with simple examples, is that the\nequilibrium measure on classical phase space is continuous, whilst on Hilbert\nspace it is discrete. The relevance of names, or equivalently, properties\nstable in time that can be used as names, is also discussed.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0511136",
"authors": [
"Simon Saunders"
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"title": "On the explanation for quantum statistics",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0511136"
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