Physical entanglement in permutation-invariant quantum mechanics

Abstract

The purpose of this short article is to build on the work of Ghirardi, Marinatto and Weber (Ghirardi, Marinatto & Weber 2002; Ghirardi & Marinatto 2003, 2004, 2005) and Ladyman, Linnebo and Bigaj (2013), in supporting a redefinition of entanglement for "indistinguishable" systems, particularly fermions. According to the proposal, non-separability of the joint state is insufficient for entanglement. The re-definition is justified by its physical significance, as enshrined in three biconditionals whose analogues hold of "distinguishable" systems.