The origin of quantum mechanical statistics: some insights from research on human language

Identical systems, or 'entities', are 'indistinguishable' in quantum mechanics (QM), and the 'symmetrization postulate' rules the possible statistical distributions of a large number of identical quantum entities. However, a thorough analysis of the historical development of QM attributes the origin of quantum statistics, in particular, 'Bose-Einstein statistics', to a lack of statistical independence of the micro-states of identical quantum entities. We have recently identified Bose-Einstein statistics in the combination of words in large texts, as a consequence of the 'entanglement' created by the meaning carried by words when they combine in human language. Relying on this investigation, we put forward the hypothesis that entanglement, hence the lack of statistical independence, is due to a 'mechanism of contextual updating', which provides deeper reasons for the appearance of Bose-Einstein statistics in human language. However, this investigation also contributes to a better understanding of the origin of quantum mechanical statistics in physics. Finally, we provide new insights into the 'intrinsically random behaviour of microscopic entities' that is generally assumed within classical statistical mechanics.This article is part of the theme issue 'Newton, <i>Principia</i>, Newton Geneva Edition (17th-19th) and modern Newtonian mechanics: heritage, past & present'.