Leibniz’s Principle, (Non-)Entanglement, and Pauli Exclusion

Abstract

Both bosons and fermions satisfy a strong version of Leibniz’s Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles (PII), and so are ontologically on a par with respect to the PII. This holds for non-entangled, non-product states and for physically entangled states—as it has been established in previous work. In this paper, the Leibniz strategy is completed by including the (bosonic) symmetric product states. A new understanding of Pauli’s Exclusion Principle is provided, which distinguishes bosons from fermions in a peculiar ontological way. Finally, the program as a whole is defended against substantial objections.

Keywords

• quantum mechanics
• permutation invariance
• entanglement
• Leibniz’s principle
• Pauli’s exclusion principle
• symmetric product states