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MON: Monday Contributed Sessions

MON 3: Many-Body Quantum Dynamics I

MON 3.6: Talk

Monday, September 8, 2025, 15:30–15:45, ZHG003

Fourier analysis of partial distinguishability in many-body systems — •Gabriel Dufour and Andreas Buchleitner — Physikalisches Institut, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

The dynamics of bosonic and fermionic many-body systems is sensitive to partial distinguishability arising from internal states of the particles. Indeed, although they do not participate in the dynamics, these internal states may allow to individuate the particles and thereby affect their many-body interference. We show that the Fourier transform over the group of permutations of N objects is a powerful tool to understand the effect of partial distinguishability on many-body dynamics. This generalisation of the discrete Fourier transform allows to analyse how the many-body state transforms under permutations of the particles in terms of irreducible symmetry types. Beyond the bosonic and fermionic symmetries which occur in systems of perfectly indistinguishable particles, partially distinguishable particles are characterised by the appearance of additional, mixed symmetry types.

Keywords: Many-body interference; Partially distinguishable particles; Exchange symmetry; Fourier transform over a finite group