HalFinney comments on Can You Prove Two Particles Are Identical? - Less Wrong

32 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 14 April 2008 07:06AM

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Comment author: dankane 03 February 2012 06:41:06AM 1 point [-]

This experiment does not prove that the electrons are indistinguishable. It merely proves that to the limit of our ability to measure, interchanging two electrons has the effect of negating the wave function. This could be achieved by anti-symmetrizing any configuration, even if the electrons were distinct. Furthermore, if the electrons had nearly identical physical properties, this property would maintain itself over time.