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  1. The coming of age of Erwin Schrödinger: His quantum statistics of ideal gases.Paul A. Hanle - 1977 - Archive for History of Exact Sciences 17 (2):165-192.
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  • On the explanation for quantum statistics.Simon Saunders - 2006 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 37 (1):192-211.
    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 (...)
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  • The Emergent Multiverse: Quantum Theory According to the Everett Interpretation.David Wallace - 2012 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.
    David Wallace argues that we should take quantum theory seriously as an account of what the world is like--which means accepting the idea that the universe is constantly branching into new universes. He presents an accessible but rigorous account of the 'Everett interpretation', the best way to make coherent sense of quantum physics.
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  • Identity in physics: a historical, philosophical, and formal analysis.Steven French & Décio Krause - 2006 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Decio Krause.
    Steven French and Decio Krause examine the metaphysical foundations of quantum physics. They draw together historical, logical, and philosophical perspectives on the fundamental nature of quantum particles and offer new insights on a range of important issues. Focusing on the concepts of identity and individuality, the authors explore two alternative metaphysical views; according to one, quantum particles are no different from books, tables, and people in this respect; according to the other, they most certainly are. Each view comes with certain (...)
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  • (1 other version)Atoms, Entropy, Quanta: Einstein’s Miraculous Argument of 1905.John D. Norton - 2005 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 37 (1):71-100.
    In the sixth section of his light quantum paper of 1905, Einstein presented the miraculous argument, as I shall call it. Pointing out an analogy with ideal gases and dilute solutions, he showed that the macroscopic, thermodynamic properties of high-frequency heat radiation carry a distinctive signature of finitely many, spatially localized, independent components and so inferred that it consists of quanta. I describe how Einstein's other statistical papers of 1905 had already developed and exploited the idea that the ideal gas (...)
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  • Indistinguishability.Simon Saunders - unknown
    This is a systematic review of the concept of indistinguishability, in both classical and quantum mechanics, with particular attention to Gibbs paradox. Section 1 is on the Gibbs paradox; section 2 is a defense of classical indistinguishability, notwithstanding the widely-held view, that classical particles can always be distinguished by their trajectories. The last section is about the notion of object more generally, and on whether indistinguishables should be thought of as objects at all.
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  • (1 other version)Atoms, entropy, quanta: Einstein's miraculous argument of 1905.John D. Norton - 2006 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 37 (1):71-100.
    In the sixth section of his light quantum paper of 1905, Einstein presented the miraculous argument, as I shall call it. Pointing out an analogy with ideal gases and dilute solutions, he showed that the macroscopic, thermodynamic properties of high frequency heat radiation carry a distinctive signature of finitely many, spatially localized, independent components and so inferred that it consists of quanta. I describe how Einstein’s other statistical papers of 1905 had already developed and exploited the idea that the ideal (...)
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  • How Classical Particles Emerge From the Quantum World.Dennis Dieks & Andrea Lubberdink - 2011 - Foundations of Physics 41 (6):1051-1064.
    The symmetrization postulates of quantum mechanics (symmetry for bosons, antisymmetry for fermions) are usually taken to entail that quantum particles of the same kind (e.g., electrons) are all in exactly the same state and therefore indistinguishable in the strongest possible sense. These symmetrization postulates possess a general validity that survives the classical limit, and the conclusion seems therefore unavoidable that even classical particles of the same kind must all be in the same state—in clear conflict with what we know about (...)
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  • Boltzmann's probability distribution of 1877.Alexander Bach - 1990 - Archive for History of Exact Sciences 41 (1):1-40.
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  • The Gibbs Paradox.Simon Saunders - 2018 - Entropy 20 (8):552.
    The Gibbs Paradox is essentially a set of open questions as to how sameness of gases or fluids are to be treated in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. They have a variety of answers, some restricted to quantum theory, some to classical theory. The solution offered here applies to both in equal measure, and is based on the concept of particle indistinguishability. Correctly understood, it is the elimination of sequence position as a labelling device, where sequences enter at the level of (...)
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  • A note on the prehistory of indistinguishable particles.Daniela Monaldi - 2009 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 40 (4):383-394.
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  • On the indistinguishability of classical particles.S. Fujita - 1991 - Foundations of Physics 21 (4):439-457.
    If no property of a system of many particles discriminates among the particles, they are said to be indistinguishable. This indistinguishability is equivalent to the requirement that the many-particle distribution function and all of the dynamic functions for the system be symmetric. The indistinguishability defined in terms of the discrete symmetry of many-particle functions cannot change in the continuous classical statistical limit in which the number density n and the reciprocal temperature β become small. Thus, microscopic particles like electrons must (...)
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  • Einstein's introduction of photons: Argument by analogy or deduction from the phenomena?Jon Dorling - 1971 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 22 (1):1-8.
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