Abstract
A feature of quantum mechanics is that identical particles cannot be labelled. This means that identical particles must be treated as indistinguishable and implies that if we exchange two particles in a many – particle system – e.g. the electrons in a molecule – then the wavefunction describing the system cannot change, apart from a phase factor. Besides some exotic possibilities in strictly two-dimensional systems, this phase factor has only two values: +1 and -1, which lead to symmetric and anti-symmetric wavefunctions, respectively. Particles with symmetric wavefunctions, such as photons, are called bosons, while those with anti-symmetric wavefunctions, such as electrons, are called fermions.
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