We reply to the critique by Pucchini and Vucetich of our construction of a non-relativistic proof of the spin-statistics connection using SU(2) invariance and a Weiss-Schwinger action principle.
A recent paper by Peshkin [1] has drawn attention again to the problem of understanding the spin statistics connection in non-relativistic quantum mechanics. Allen and Mondragon [2] has pointed out correctly some of the flaws in Peshkin's arguments which are based on the single valuedness under rotation of the wave functions of systems of identical particles. We examine carefully the claim that is made in the title of [2] that there can be ``no spin-statistics connection in non-relativistic quantum mechanics''. We show that we can derive the spin statistics connection for non-relativistic quantum field theories which have equations of motion of the Hamiltonian type based on SU(2) invariance of the Lagrangian. The formalism and machinary of non-relativistic quantum field theory as opposed to usual quantum mechanics is necessary for constructing our proof.
George Sudarshan was quite a bit ahead of the times when he sketched out a non-relativistic proof of the spin-statistics connection forty years back. A recent revival of interest in the role of relativistic arguments in proving the spin-statistics connection prompted us to revisit Sudarshan's original arguments and present them in simpler fashion. The proof is designed to work in three space dimensions. Sudarshan's observation was that if we impose SU (2) invariance, along with a few other restrictions, on the kinematic part of the Lagrangian of a field theory which is derivable from a Weiss-Schwinger type of the Principle of Least Action, then the spin-statistics connection automatically follows. The assumptions and simplifications that go into constructing the proof will be carefully laid out so as to identify the limitations of this approach.
Here we explore the possibility to obtain a non-relativistic proof of the spin-statistics theorem. First, we examine the structure of axioms and theorems involved in a relativistic Schwinger-like proof of the spin-statistics relation. Second, starting from this structure we identify the relativistic assumptions. Last, we reformulate these assumptions in order to obtain a Galilean proof. We conclude that the spin-statistics theorem cannot be deduced into the framework of Galilean quantum field theories for three space dimensions because two of the assumptions needed to prove the theorem are incompatible. We analyze, however, the conditions under which a non-relativist proof could still be deduced.