[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Bosons in the same single-particle state

Quantum physics · 

## Why it looked like it would break the theory

Two bosons in the same state cannot be distinguished as fixed individuals. If identity requires a unique intrinsic label, the identity–other structure appears to disappear.

## Why it failed

**The counterexample failed** because identity and other are structural roles, not permanent labels attached to objects. At the particle grain, individual labels disappear; at the mode grain, this occupation state is distinguished from alternatives. The distinction changes with grain, but it does not vanish.

Settled by [R3](https://dsrpevidence.org/resolution/3). Not yet published.

[Read it](https://doi.org/10.1093/bjps/39.2.233)

[All cases](https://dsrpevidence.org/counterexamples)