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arXiv:1712.03089

Ascendancy of potentials over fields in electrodynamics

Howard R. Reiss

Published Dec 6, 2017• 0 citations

Abstract

Multiple bases are presented for the conclusion that potentials are fundamental in electrodynamics, with electric and magnetic fields as quantities auxiliary to the scalar and vector potentials -- opposite to the conventional ordering. One foundation for the concept of basic potentials and auxiliary fields consists of examples where two sets of gauge-related fields are such that one is physical and the other is erroneous, with the information for the proper choice supplied by the potentials. A major consequence is that a change of gauge is not a unitary transformation in quantum mechanics; a principle heretofore unchallenged. The primacy of potentials over fields leads to the concept of a hierarchy of physical quantities, where potentials and energies are primary, while fields and forces are secondary. Secondary quantities provide less information than do primary quantities. Some criteria by which strong laser fields are judged are based on secondary quantities, making it possible to arrive at inappropriate conclusions. This is exemplified by several field-related misconceptions as diverse as the behavior of charged particles in very low frequency propagating fields, and the fundamental problem of pair production at very high intensities. In each case, an approach based on potentials gives appropriate results, free of ambiguities. The examples encompass classical and quantum phenomena, in relativistic and nonrelativistic conditions. This is a major extension of the quantum-only Aharonov-Bohm effect, both in supporting the primacy of potentials over fields, and also in showing how field-based conceptions can lead to errors in basic applications.

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1712.03089

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Multiple bases are presented for the conclusion that potentials are fundamental in electrodynamics, with electric and magnetic fields as quantities auxiliary to the scalar and vector potentials -- opposite to the conventional ordering. One foundation for the concept of basic potentials and auxiliary fields consists of examples where two sets of gauge-related fields are such that one is physical and the other is erroneous, with the information for the proper choice supplied by the potentials. A major consequence is that a change of gauge is not a unitary transformation in quantum mechanics; a principle heretofore unchallenged. The primacy of potentials over fields leads to the concept of a hierarchy of physical quantities, where potentials and energies are primary, while fields and forces are secondary. Secondary quantities provide less information than do primary quantities. Some criteria by which strong laser fields are judged are based on secondary quantities, making it possible to arrive at inappropriate conclusions. This is exemplified by several field-related misconceptions as diverse as the behavior of charged particles in very low frequency propagating fields, and the fundamental problem of pair production at very high intensities. In each case, an approach based on potentials gives appropriate results, free of ambiguities. The examples encompass classical and quantum phenomena, in relativistic and nonrelativistic conditions. This is a major extension of the quantum-only Aharonov-Bohm effect, both in supporting the primacy of potentials over fields, and also in showing how field-based conceptions can lead to errors in basic applications.

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Abstract It is shown that electromagnetic potentials convey physical information beyond that supplied by electric and magnetic fields alone, and are thus more fundamental. Observable physical properties can impose conditions on the selection of electromagnetic gauge (i.e. sets of potentials) that are explicit and restrictive. This is true both classically and quantum mechanically. The implication that the choice of gauge carries physical information is confirmed by exhibiting a set of potentials that describes fields correctly, but that violates physical constraints. The basic conclusions are that physical requirements place limits on acceptable gauges; and that potentials are more fundamental than fields in both classical and quantum physics, representing a major generalization of the quantum-only Aharonov–Bohm effect. These important properties are obscured if the dipole approximation is employed. The properties demonstrated here relate directly to conditions that exist in strong-field laser applications.

The field of scalar and vector potentials in electrodynamics is shown to represent an informational field capable of superluminally transmitting a signal (information) with no energy and momentum transfer. This conclusion strictly follows from Maxwell's equations for electromagnetic field interacting with electric charges and currents in vacuum, without resort to any additional hypotheses. That superluminal communication is possible is seen from the fact that the own field, generated by particles and inseparable from them, transforms the environment into a special physical medium which is capable to instantaneously transfer a signal (information) about any changes, happening to a particle in the region of its basic localization, to arbitrarily large distances. The phenomenon of superluminal communication is caused by the non-local connection of scalar and vector potentials with the electric and magnetic field strengths. The basis for the mechanism of superluminal communication considered in this work is the Aharonov-Bohm effect indicative of the field of electromagnetic potentials as a real physical field, which directly influences the behaviour of electron waves. The conclusion is made that in quantum systems superluminal signals occur constantly, in any quantum processes. The occurrence of superluminal signals is due to the space-time symmetry breaking of a special kind, consisting in that the equations for potentials do not possess relativistic invariance though Maxwell's equations for the field strengths are Lorentz-invariant. The results presented do not contradict the physical principles underlying special relativity and confirm the fundamental conclusion, made for the first time by de Broglie, that gauge invariance is not an absolute law in physics

This article describes the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect of electron waves travelling in free space and its application to the observation of gauge fields (vector potentials). The AB effect is inconceivable in classical physics since an observable effect is produced on electrons passing through field-free spaces. Electrons can be affected only by Lorentz forces due to electromagnetic fields. The situation is different in quantum mechanics, where electrons show wave properties: the concept of force is no longer relevant, so electric field E and magnetic field B, defined as forces acting on a unit charge, take on secondary meanings. “Phase shifts” come into play, and the primary physical entities become neither E nor B but electrostatic potential V and vector potential A. These potentials interact with electron waves and shift their phases.

The problem of the relation between the Ahronov-Bohm effect and traditional postulates of electrodynamics, which claim that only electric and magnetic fields are observable, is resolved by denial of the statement about validity of the Maxwell equations for microscopic fields. We proceed from the idea that the Maxwell equations, as the generalization of experimental data, are valid only for averaged values. We show that microscopic electrodynamics should be based on postulation of the d'Alembert equations for four-vector of the electromagnetic field potential. The Lorentz condition is valid only for the averages and provides the implementation of the Maxwell equations for averages. This concept eliminates the problem of electromagnetic field quantization and provides the correctness of all known results of quantum electrodynamics. Therefore, the "virtuality" of the longitudinal and scalar photons has a formal mathematical character, conditioned by the Maxwell equations for averaged fields. The longitudinal and scalar photons provide not only the Coulomb interaction of charged particles, but also allow the electrical Aharonov-Bohm effect.

The most popular interpretation of the Aharonov–Bohm (AB) effect is that the electromagnetic potential locally affects the complex phase of a charged particle’s wave function in the magnetic field free region. However, since the vector potential is a gauge-variant quantity, multiple researchers suspect that it is just a convenient tool for calculating the force field. This motivates them to explain the AB effect without using the vector potential, which inevitably leads to some sort of non-locality. This frustrating situation is shortly summarized by the statement by Aharonov et al. that the AB effect may be due to a local gauge potential or due to non-local gauge-invariant fields. In the present paper, we shall give several convincing arguments which support the viewpoint that the vector potential is not just a convenient mathematical tool with little physical entity. Despite its gauge arbitrariness, the vector potential certainly contains a gauge-invariant piece, which solely explains the observed AB phase shift. Importantly, this component has a property such that it is basically unique and cannot be eliminated by any regular gauge transformations. To complete the discussion, we also discuss the role of remaining gauge arbitrariness still contained in the entire vector potential.