Identical Quantum Particles as Potential Parts

Quantum Physics [Submitted on 25 Mar 2026] Identical Quantum Particles as Potential Parts Philip Goyal The mathematical rules used to handle systems of identical quantum particles bring into question whether the elementary constituents of matter, such as electrons, have the fundamental characteristics of persistence and reidentifiability that are usually attributed to classical particles. However, despite considerable philosophical debate, the metaphysical profile of these entities remains elusive. Previous debates have taken the mathematical rules, and the language in which these are usually couched, as a starting point. Here, we argue that this methodology is inherently limited, and develop a new conception of identical particles based on a recent mathematical reconstruction of these rules. Using this reconstruction, we demonstrate that the special behaviour of identical particles originates in the confluence of identicality and the active nature of the quantum measurements. We propose that identical particles are appropriately viewed as potential parts of a whole, and show how this leads to striking consequences such as restricted transtemporal identity. Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2603.23813 [quant-ph]   (or arXiv:2603.23813v1 [quant-ph] for this version)   https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2603.23813 Focus to learn more Related DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2025.0360 Focus to learn more Submission history From: Philip Goyal [view email] [v1] Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:46:31 UTC (2,903 KB) Access Paper: view license Current browse context: quant-ph < prev   |   next > new | recent | 2026-03 References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar Export BibTeX Citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Demos Related Papers About arXivLabs Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)