On the spatial coordinate measurement of two identical particles

• The coordinate measurement of two identical particles at a point is investigated.
• A discrepancy in the realization of coordinate measurement of two bosons or fermions is shown.
• The bunching parameter of bosons is not a well-defined physical property.
• There is a problem in the interpretation of coordinate measurement of two particles.

Theoretically, the coordinate measurement of two identical particles at a point by two narrowly separated narrow detectors, is interpreted in the limit of shrinking width and separation, as the detection of two particles by a single narrow detector. Ordinarily, the ratio between probabilities of point measurements is independent of the width of the narrow detectors. We show here that not only this is not the case, but that in some scenarios the results depend on the way the dimensions shrink to zero. The ratio between the width and the separation determines the detection result. In particular, it is shown that the bunching parameter of bosons is not a well-defined physical property. Moreover, it may suggests that there is a difficulty in quantum measurement theory in the interpretation of coordinate measurement of two particles.