Do Bosons Ever Masquerade As Fermions?  June 25, 2010
Experiment tests underpinnings of quantum field theory, Bose-
Einstein statistics of photons  Of all the assumptions
underlying quantum mechanics and the theory that describes how
particles interact at the most elementary level, perhaps the
most basic is that particles are either bosons or fermions.
Bosons, such as the particles of light called photons, play by
one set of rules; fermions, including electrons, play by
another.  Seven years ago, University of California, Berkeley,
physicists asked a fundamental and potentially disturbing
question: Do bosons sometimes play by fermion rules?
Specifically, do photons act like bosons all the time, or could
they sometimes act like fermions?  Based on the results of their
experiment to test this possibility, published June 25 in the
journal Physical Review Letters, the answer is a solid “no.”
The theories of physics ““ including the most comprehensive
theory of elementary particles, Quantum Field Theory, which ex