The Pauli Exclusion Principle and the Problems of Its Experimental Verification
Ilya G. Kaplan
Abstract
The modern state of the Pauli exclusion principle is shortly discussed. We describe the discovery by Pauli, his principle for electrons, and how it was generalized for all elementary particles in the framework of quantum mechanics. The motivations and theoretical conceptions that induced the experiments for verification of the Pauli exclusion principle are analyzed. The results and methodology of two different types of experiments are discussed: (1) the search of unusual atoms and nuclei in the stable non-Pauli states, and (2) the experiments in which the emitted radiation of non-Pauli transitions is measured. In conclusion, the comments on the discussed experiments that follow from the general quantum mechanical conceptions and group theory are formulated.