Pauli Principle, Reloaded

A generalized form of the Pauli exclusion principle gives insight into the quantum wave function describing multiple electrons.

Pauli’s exclusion principle says two identical fermions cannot be in the same quantum state. In recent years, physicists have discovered a more general form of the principle that puts additional mathematical constraints on the quantum wave function describing multiple fermions. In Physical Review Letters, Christian Schilling [1] at the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, and colleagues study a simple model to gain insight into how these additional constraints may affect the physical properties of the many-bodied wave function. Their findings may lead to new ways to simplify quantum calculations, such as those used to describe the electrons of an atom or molecule.