Testing the symmetrization postulate on molecules with three identical nuclei - art. no. 022115

We propose an experiment to look for possible small violations of the symme trization postulate of quantum mechanics, in systems composed of three iden tical particles. Such violations could be detected by investigating the pop ulation of particular rotovibrational states of symmetrical molecules conta ining three identical nuclei. We discuss the symmetry properties of such st ates, and the implications of the symmetrization postulate and the spin sta tistics connection. A high-sensitivity spectroscopic investigation of simpl e molecules such as SO3, BH3, and NH3 could lead, to our knowledge, to the first test of the symmetrization postulate for spin-0 and spin-1/2 nuclei.