Spin-statistics Theorem - Why The Bogus Argument Fails

Why The Bogus Argument Fails

To prove spin/statistics, it is necessary to use relativity (though there are a few nice methods which do not use field theoretic tools). In relativity, there are no local fields which are pure creation operators or annihilation operators. Every local field both creates particles and annihilates the corresponding antiparticle. This means that in relativity, the product of the free real spin-0 field has a nonzero vacuum expectation value, because in addition to creating particles and annihilating particles, it also includes a part which creates and then annihilates a particle:

And now the heuristic argument can be used to see that G(x) is equal to G(−x), which tells you that the fields cannot be anti-commuting.

Read more about this topic:  Spin-statistics Theorem

Famous quotes containing the words argument and/or fails:

    The difficult part in an argument is not to defend one’s opinion, but rather to know it.
    André Maurois (1885–1967)

    That hour in the life of a man when first the help of humanity fails him, and he learns that in his obscurity and indigence humanity holds him a dog and no man: that hour is a hard one, but not the hardest. There is still another hour which follows, when he learns that in his infinite comparative minuteness and abjectness, the gods do likewise despise him, and own him not of their clan.
    Herman Melville (1819–1891)