In the standard ontology of physics, a particle is assumed to be a basic entity: a thing with identity, properties, and perhaps a trajectory. Whether treated as a point mass, a wavepacket, or a quantised excitation of a field, the particle retains this metaphysical role — a bearer of attributes, distinct from other entities, even if indistinguishable in kind.
But quantum mechanics resists this framework. Particles of the same type — such as electrons — are not merely similar. They are fundamentally non-individuated. Their joint states cannot be described by simply labelling and tracking individuals. Instead, they are governed by symmetrisation constraints (bosons) or antisymmetrisation constraints (fermions), which forbid any attribution of identity to particular elements.
What, then, is a particle? And what becomes of identity in a quantum world?
From a relational perspective, the answer is stark: particles are not entities at all. They are punctualisations — localised actualisations of a field of potential under specific constraints. Their “identity” is not an ontological primitive, but a byproduct of construal. What we call a particle is a resolved coherence — a provisional “cut” in a deeper relational topology.
1. The Myth of Primitive Identity
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Classical physics assumes haecceity — thisness — as a foundation: each object is what it is, independent of others,
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But quantum theory violates this at every turn: same-type particles are not individuated, even in principle,
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The assumption of inherent identity collapses under symmetrisation. What we construe as many is not composed of distinct individuals.
2. Symmetrisation as Constraint, Not Metaphysics
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Bosons and fermions obey specific symmetry rules: their joint state is invariant (or antisymmetric) under exchange,
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But these rules are not laws governing individuals. They are constraints on how coherence can resolve,
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There are no hidden particles obeying exchange rules. There is only a coherence field whose topology permits certain actualisations and excludes others.
3. Indistinguishability as Relational Incompleteness
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The indistinguishability of quantum particles is often treated as an epistemic limitation: we “don’t know” which is which,
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But from a relational view, there is no which. There is no hidden fact of the matter,
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Individuation is not incomplete — it is inapplicable at this level. The system does not consist of parts waiting to be named; it consists of coherence awaiting resolution.
4. Identity as a Cut, Not a Core
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If we observe a particle-like event — a click in a detector — we infer a particle has arrived,
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But this event is not evidence of an entity. It is the resolution of potential under constraint — a relational reconfiguration that punctualises as an event,
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The particle is a retrospective construal: a stable appearance that emerges only when affordances enforce local coherence.
5. No “Many” Without Perspective
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The question “How many particles are there?” presupposes a countable ontology,
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But counting requires individuation, and individuation is always construal-dependent,
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What appears as “N particles” is a region of the field resolving in N-fold symmetry — not a plurality of things, but a pattern in relation.
Closing
Quantum theory doesn't reveal the world to be full of weird particles behaving strangely. It reveals that the very notion of a particle is a relic of object-based metaphysics. In a relational ontology, there are no individuals, only resolutions of coherence — temporary, perspectival, and always under constraint.
Identity is not what a system has. It is what emerges when a system is construed under tension, when a field is forced to localise and resolve. What we call a particle is not an actor on a stage, but the staging itself — a fold in the field, a momentary cut, a coherence captured by construal.
In the next post, we’ll explore how this relational view of identity impacts our understanding of quantum statistics, and how fermionic and bosonic behaviour are not properties of particles, but modes of field resolution.
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