Quantum Statistics: Is There an Effective Fermion Repulsion or Boson Attraction?

W. J. Mullin, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
G. Blaylock, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

This paper was harvested from ArXiv.org and ArXiv identifier is arXiv:0304067v1

Abstract

Physicists often claim that there is an effective repulsion between fermions, implied by the Pauli principle, and a corresponding effective attraction between bosons. We examine the origins of such exchange force ideas, the validity for them, and the areas where they are highly misleading. We propose that future explanations of quantum statistics should avoid the idea of a effective force completely and replace it with more appropriate physical insights, some of which are suggested here.