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arXiv:1104.5492 · Journal of Modern Physics

Beyond the Dirac Phase Factor: Dynamical Quantum Phase-Nonlocalities in the Schrödinger Picture

Konstantinos Moulopoulos

Published Jan 1, 2011• 9 citations
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Abstract

Generalized solutions of the standard gauge transformation equations are presented and discussed in physical terms.They go beyond the usual Dirac phase factors and they exhibit nonlocal quantal behavior, with the well-known Relativistic Causality of classical fields affecting directly the phases of wavefunctions in the Schrödinger Picture.These nonlocal phase behaviors, apparently overlooked in path-integral approaches, give a natural account of the dynamical nonlocality character of the various (even static) Aharonov-Bohm phenomena, while at the same time they seem to respect Causality.For particles passing through nonvanishing magnetic or electric fields they lead to cancellations of Aharonov-Bohm phases at the observation point, generalizing earlier semiclassical experimental observations (of Werner & Brill) to delocalized (spread-out) quantum states.This leads to a correction of previously unnoticed sign-errors in the literature, and to a natural explanation of the deeper reason why certain time-dependent semiclassical arguments are consistent with static results in purely quantal Aharonov-Bohm configurations.These nonlocalities also provide a remedy for misleading results propagating in the literature (concerning an uncritical use of Dirac phase factors, that persists since the time of Feynman's work on path integrals).They are shown to conspire in such a way as to exactly cancel the instantaneous Aharonov-Bohm phase and recover Relativistic Causality in earlier "paradoxes" (such as the van Kampen thought-experiment), and to also complete Peshkin's discussion of the electric Aharonov-Bohm effect in a causal manner.The present formulation offers a direct way to address time-dependent singlevs double-slit experiments and the associated causal issues-issues that have recently attracted attention, with respect to the inability of current theories to address them.

DOI
10.4236/jmp.2011.211156

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Generalized solutions of the standard gauge transformation equations are presented and discussed in physical terms.They go beyond the usual Dirac phase factors and they exhibit nonlocal quantal behavior, with the well-known Relativistic Causality of classical fields affecting directly the phases of wavefunctions in the Schrödinger Picture.These nonlocal phase behaviors, apparently overlooked in path-integral approaches, give a natural account of the dynamical nonlocality character of the various (even static) Aharonov-Bohm phenomena, while at the same time they seem to respect Causality.For particles passing through nonvanishing magnetic or electric fields they lead to cancellations of Aharonov-Bohm phases at the observation point, generalizing earlier semiclassical experimental observations (of Werner & Brill) to delocalized (spread-out) quantum states.This leads to a correction of previously unnoticed sign-errors in the literature, and to a natural explanation of the deeper reason why certain time-dependent semiclassical arguments are consistent with static results in purely quantal Aharonov-Bohm configurations.These nonlocalities also provide a remedy for misleading results propagating in the literature (concerning an uncritical use of Dirac phase factors, that persists since the time of Feynman's work on path integrals).They are shown to conspire in such a way as to exactly cancel the instantaneous Aharonov-Bohm phase and recover Relativistic Causality in earlier "paradoxes" (such as the van Kampen thought-experiment), and to also complete Peshkin's discussion of the electric Aharonov-Bohm effect in a causal manner.The present formulation offers a direct way to address time-dependent singlevs double-slit experiments and the associated causal issues-issues that have recently attracted attention, with respect to the inability of current theories to address them.
Generalized solutions of the standard gauge transformation equations are presented and discussed in physical terms. They go beyond the usual Dirac phase factors and they exhibit nonlocal quantal behavior, with the well-known Relativistic Causality of classical fields affecting directly the phases of wavefunctions in the Schrödinger Picture. These nonlocal phase behaviors, apparently overlooked in path-integral approaches, give a natural account of the dynamical nonlocality character of the various (even static) Aharonov-Bohm phenomena, while at the same time they seem to respect Causality. For particles passing through nonvanishing magnetic or electric fields they lead to cancellations of Aharonov-Bohm phases at the observation point, generalizing earlier semiclassical experimental observations (of Werner & Brill) to delocalized (spread-out) quantum states. This leads to a correction of previously unnoticed sign-errors in the literature, and to a natural explanation of the deeper reason why certain time-dependent semiclassical arguments are consistent with static results in purely quantal Aharonov-Bohm configurations. These nonlocalities also provide a remedy for misleading results propagating in the literature (concerning an uncritical use of Dirac phase factors, that persists since the time of Feynman's work on path integrals). They are shown to conspire in such a way as to exactly cancel the instantaneous Aharonov-Bohm phase and recover Relativistic Causality in earlier " paradoxes" (such as the van Kampen thought-experiment), and to also complete Peshkin's discussion of the electric Aharonov-Bohm effect in a causal manner. The present formulation offers a direct way to address time-dependent single- vs double-slit experiments and the associated causal issues -- issues that have recently attracted attention, with respect to the inability of current theories to address them.
We show that the standard Dirac phase factor is not the only solution of the usual gauge transformation equations. The full form of a general gauge function (that connects systems that move in different sets of scalar and vector potentials), apart from Dirac phases (spatial or temporal integrals over potentials), also contains terms of classical fields that act nonlocally (in spacetime) on the local solutions of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. As a result, the phases of wavefunctions in the Schrödinger picture are affected nonlocally by spatially and temporally remote magnetic and electric fields, in specific ways that are fully explored. These contributions go beyond the usual Aharonov–Bohm effects (magnetic or electric). (i) Application to cases of particles passing through full static magnetic or electric fields leads to cancellations of Aharonov–Bohm phases at the observation point; these cancellations are linked to behaviors at the semiclassical level (i.e. the old Werner and Brill experimental observations, or their ‘electric analogs’—or to more recent reports of Batelaan and Tonomura) but are shown to be far more general (true not only for narrow wavepackets but also for completely delocalized (spread-out) quantum states). By using these cancellations, certain previously unnoticed sign-errors in the literature are corrected. (ii) Application to time-dependent situations provides a remedy for erroneous results in the literature (concerning an uncritical use of Dirac phase factors) and leads to phases that contain an Aharonov–Bohm part and a field-nonlocal part: their competition is shown to recover relativistic causality in earlier ‘paradoxes’ (such as the van Kampen thought-experiment), while a more general consideration indicates that the temporal nonlocalities found here demonstrate in part a causal propagation of phases of quantum mechanical wavefunctions in the Schrödinger picture. This may open a new and direct way to address time-dependent double-slit experiments and the associated causal issues.
We report on previously overlooked solutions of the usual gauge transformation equations that exhibit a new form of nonlocal quantal behavior with the well-known Relativistic Causality of classical fields affecting directly the phases of wavefunctions. The new nonlocalities compete with Aharonov-Bohm behaviors and they provide: a correction to a number of erroneous results in the literature, a new interpretation of semiclassical observations and further extensions to delocalized states, a natural remedy of earlier "paradoxes", and a new formulation in the study of time-dependent slit-experiments.
We present a rigorous no-go theorem that excludes \emph{all} gauge-invariant dynamical explanations of the generalized, time-dependent Aharonov--Bohm (AB) effect. In this generalization, the AB phase is determined by the time-averaged magnetic flux enclosed by the particle's path, ΔϕAB=eℏ⋅1T∫0TΦ(t) dt\Delta \phi_{\mathrm{AB}} = \frac{e}{\hbar} \cdot \frac{1}{T} \int_0^T \Phi(t) \, dtΔϕAB​=ℏe​⋅T1​∫0T​Φ(t)dt. Using a carefully designed protocol in which a constant flux Φ\PhiΦ persists only for a finite interval Δt\Delta tΔt after wavepacket splitting and is switched to zero before detection, we demonstrate that during the phase-generating period all gauge-invariant observables of the electron remain identical to those in a zero-flux experiment. Relativistic causality further prohibits backreaction from the source. Consequently, no gauge-invariant quantity---whether local or nonlocal, field-based or source-mediated---can account for the observed phase, which depends solely on flux history. We also critically examine Healey's holonomy interpretation and show that it, too, fails to explain the time-dependent AB effect, as its static formalism lacks the dynamical structure needed to capture temporal averaging. This result establishes the inescapable physical reality of gauge potentials in quantum theory and clarifies the foundational status of the AB effect as a genuine manifestation of potentials rather than fields.
Beginning with the basic notions of quantum theory, impossibility of `trajectory' description for particles that ensues from uncertainty principle is discussed. Why the observed tracks in bubble/cloud chambers are not really the `trajectories' of high energy particles, rather they are simply the trails of the atoms/molecules excited or ionized in the direction of the high momenta of the incoming particles, are highlighted. Thereafter, the notion of symmetry and its application to the non-relativistic Schrodinger equation have been delineated. The demand for U(1) gauge invariance and the resulting `gauge miracle', that automatically leads to the correct interaction terms describing the electromagnetic force between the charge particles and the field, have been elaborated upon. A simple treatment, but with explicit derivation, of the Aharonov-Bohm effect, is presented, that underlines a strange phenomena - sites, impenetrable by charge particles but are threaded with magnetic field lines, conspire with a `Trojan Horse', namely the magnetic vector potential outside, to cause measurable shift in the double-slit interference fringes. This shift in the interference pattern is non-classical since the charge particles move in field-free regions. The crucial Aharonov-Bohm (AB) phase that makes its entry in the above bizarre effect is also deployed to derive the observed magnetic flux quantisation in superconductors as well as the Dirac result which implies that the existence of a single magnetic monopole anywhere in the universe would entail quantisation of the product of a particle's electric charge and the monopole's magnetic charge. Nontrivial consequences of AB phase follow whenever the physical region accessible, from the point of view of the wavefunction of a charge particle, is multiply-connected.
This work introduces nonlocal corrections to gauge potentials arising when quantum paths traverse regions of nonzero electromagnetic field strength. These corrections restore single-valuedness of the gauge function and resolve inconsistencies that appear in standard treatments of phase accumulation when paths cross field regions. Explicit analytic expressions are derived for static and time-dependent configurations, including solvable stripe models. The results suggest a geometric path dependence beyond conventional formulations of gauge phases and may have implications for the Aharonov–Bohm effect, Berry phases, and related gauge-theoretic constructions. This manuscript represents the first part of a broader investigation of nonlocal gauge corrections and their physical applications.