Quantum Statistics: Is there an effective fermion repulsion or boson attraction?

In a previous paper [quant-ph/0207017] I gave an elementary proof, starting from stated assumptions of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, that identical spin-zero particles must be bosons. Since then it has been suggested that my proof assumed its conclusion, and that it is based on a theory "quite different from standard physics." [quant-ph/0304088] I show here that those two statements are incorrect.

The empirical rule that systems of identical particles always obey either Bose or Fermi statistics is customarily imposed on the theory by adding it to the axioms of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, with the result that other statistical behaviors are excluded a priori. A more general approach is to ask what other many-particle statistics are consistent with the indistinguishability of identical particles. This strategy offers a way to discuss possible violations of the Pau...

We study the classical mechanics and dynamics of particles that retains some memory of quantum statistics. Our work builds on earlier work on the statistical mechanics and thermodynamics of such particles. Starting from the effective classical manifold associated with two-particle bosonic and fermionic coherent states, we show how their exchange statistics is reflected in the symplectic form of the manifold. We demonstrate the classical analogues of exclusion or bunching beha...

We investigate the dynamics of pairs of Fermions and Bosons released from a box and find that their populations have unique generic properties ensuing from the axioms of quantum statistics and symmetries. These depend neither on the specific equations of wave function propagation, such as Schr\"odinger, Klein-Gordon, Dirac, nor on the specific potential involved. One surprising finding is that after releasing the pairs, there are always more Boson than Fermion pairs outside t...

These lectures were given in the framework of the ``Dixi\`eme s\'eminaire rhodanien de physique'' entitled ``Le spin en physique'', given at Villa Gualino, Turin, March 2002. We have shown how the difficulties of interpretation of atomic spectra led to the Pauli exclusion principle and to the notion of spin, and then described the following steps: the Pauli spin with 2$\times$2 matrices after the birth of "new" quantum mechanics, the Dirac equation and the magnetic moment of ...

We derive some physical properties of ideal assemblies of identical particles obeying generalized exclusion statistics. We discuss fluctuations, and in this connection point out a fundamental contrast to conventional quantum statistics. We demonstrate a duality relating the distribution of particles at statistics $g$ to the distribution of holes at statistics $1/g$. We suggest applications to Mott insulators.

Particle statistics is a fundamental part of quantum physics, and yet its role and use in the context of quantum information have been poorly explored so far. After briefly introducing particle statistics and the Symmetrization Postulate, I will argue that this fundamental aspect of Nature can be seen as a resource for quantum information processing and I will present examples showing how it is possible to do useful and efficient quantum information processing using only the ...

This review is the updated and enlarged version of a talk delivered by J. S. on the occasion of the 1982 meeting of Nobel laureates at Lindau, and of talks given by B.-G. E. at several West German universities and Max Planck institutes in 1984.

The aim of this paper is to clarify the conceptual difference which exists between the interactions of composite bosons and the interactions of elementary bosons. A special focus is made on the physical processes which are missed when composite bosons are replaced by elementary bosons. Although what is here said directly applies to excitons, it is also valid for bosons in other fields than semiconductor physics. We in particular explain how the two basic scatterings -- Coulom...

In a first historical part I shall give a detailed description of how Pauli discovered --before the advent of the new quantum mechanics -- his exclusion principle. The second part is devoted to the insight and results that have been obtained in more recent times in our understanding of the stability of matter in bulk, both for ordinary matter (like stones) and self-gravitating bodies.