Individuality as an illusion

Adonai S. Sant'Anna

Published 2004-09-03Version 2

Elementary particles in quantum mechanics (QM) are indistinguishable when sharing the same intrinsic properties and the same quantum state. So, we can consider quantum particles as non-individuals, although non-individuality is usually considered as a consequence of the formalism of QM, since the entanglement of states forbids any labelling process. We show how to consider non-individuality as one of the basic principles of QM, instead of a logical consequence. The advantages of our framework are discussed as well. We also show that even in classical particle mechanics it is possible to consider the existence of non-individual particles. One of our main contributions is to show how to derive the apparent individuality of classical particles from the assumption that all physical objects are non-individuals.