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I have heard that Feynman and Wheeler briefly discussed the idea of the 'one electron universe'. According to Wikipedia it came up as follows:
It wasn't really a serious idea, more a 'thought experiment'. But what interests me is the fact that electrons are literally indistinguishable. Not only do they all have exactly the same properties, but 'it's essentially impossible to tell them apart at all. This is because determining specific electrons by their position would require measuring their trajectories with exact precision, and the laws of quantum mechanics forbid this.' 1
So this leads me to ask the question: do electrons exist? The obvious answer is, of course they do, you can capture their signal in all kinds of experiments. But the criterion for something that 'exists' is generally that it has an identity - it is 'this' as distinct from 'that'. The word 'exist' means to stand (ist) apart (ex).
So the 'one-electron universe' is not really that whimsical an idea. Something corresponding to 'electrons' can certainly be described, and it fulfils certain functions and turns up in predictable ways. But whether it exists can still be legitimately questioned. (I know that this is a tricky philosophical issue, but I would be interested to hear others' views on it.)
Feynman said:I received a telephone call one day at the graduate college at Princeton from Professor Wheeler, in which he said, "Feynman, I know why all electrons have the same charge and the same mass" "Why?" "Because, they are all the same electron!"
It wasn't really a serious idea, more a 'thought experiment'. But what interests me is the fact that electrons are literally indistinguishable. Not only do they all have exactly the same properties, but 'it's essentially impossible to tell them apart at all. This is because determining specific electrons by their position would require measuring their trajectories with exact precision, and the laws of quantum mechanics forbid this.' 1
So this leads me to ask the question: do electrons exist? The obvious answer is, of course they do, you can capture their signal in all kinds of experiments. But the criterion for something that 'exists' is generally that it has an identity - it is 'this' as distinct from 'that'. The word 'exist' means to stand (ist) apart (ex).
So the 'one-electron universe' is not really that whimsical an idea. Something corresponding to 'electrons' can certainly be described, and it fulfils certain functions and turns up in predictable ways. But whether it exists can still be legitimately questioned. (I know that this is a tricky philosophical issue, but I would be interested to hear others' views on it.)