Caulton, Adam (2014) Is mereology empirical? Composition for fermions. [Preprint]
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Abstract
How best to think about quantum systems under permutation invariance is a question that has received a great deal of attention in the literature. But very little attention has been paid to taking seriously the proposal that permutation invariance reflects a representational redundancy in the formalism. Under such a proposal, it is far from obvious how a constituent quantum system is represented. Consequently, it is also far from obvious how quantum systems compose to form assemblies, i.e. what is the formal structure of their relations of parthood, overlap and fusion.
In this paper, I explore one proposal for the case of fermions and their assemblies. According to this proposal, fermionic assemblies which are not entangled—in some heterodox, but natural sense of ‘entangled’—provide a prima facie counterexample to classical mereology. This result is puzzling; but, I argue, no more intolerable than any other available interpretative option.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Keywords: | Quantum mechanics, Mereology, Composition, Fermions, Permutation invariance | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics General Issues > Reductionism/Holism Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Depositing User: | Dr Adam Caulton | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 16 Jul 2015 15:23 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 16 Jul 2015 15:23 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 11570 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics General Issues > Reductionism/Holism Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Date: | 29 August 2014 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/11570 |
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Is mereology empirical? Composition for fermions. (deposited 01 Sep 2014 04:37)
- Is mereology empirical? Composition for fermions. (deposited 16 Jul 2015 15:23) [Currently Displayed]
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