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Physical Review A

New quantum interference effect in rotating systems

Chien-hua Tsai, David Neilson

Published Jan 1, 1988• 37 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We discuss a new quantum interference effect between the split paths of a coherent particle beam which is in a uniformly rotating frame. The effect is the mechanical counterpart of the Aharonov-Bohm effect usually associated with interference in magnetic fields. We demonstrate that the effect should be observable even in a frame which is rotating no faster than the second hand on a clock.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.37.619

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We discuss a new quantum interference effect between the split paths of a coherent particle beam which is in a uniformly rotating frame. The effect is the mechanical counterpart of the Aharonov-Bohm effect usually associated with interference in magnetic fields. We demonstrate that the effect should be observable even in a frame which is rotating no faster than the second hand on a clock.
As the mechanical counterpart of the Aharonov-Bohm effect and the Aharonov-Cashier effect in a magnetic field, the existence and possibility of observation of a quantum interference effect between the split paths of a coherent particle beam in a uniformly rotating frame have been studied previously. The discussion is now generalized to the case of a reference frame rotating at arbitrary time varying angular velocity about a fixed center. The phase difference between the split beams of particles and the resulting interference pattern depend not only upon the speed, but also upon the orientation of the axis of rotation. The conclusion may have, therefore, inferences on gyroscopic applications.
As the mechanical counterpart of the Aharonov-Bohm effect and the Aharonov-Cashier effect in a magnetic field, the existence and possibility of observation of a quantum interference effect between the split paths of a coherent particle beam in a uniformly rotating frame have been studied previously. The discussion is now generalized to the case of a reference frame rotating at arbitrarily time-varying angular velocity about a fixed center. The phase difference between the split beams of particles and the resulting interference pattern depend not only upon the speed, but also upon the orientation of the axis of rotation. The conclusion may have, therefore, inferences on gyroscopic applications.
The AB (Aharonov-Bohm) effect is a pivotal quantum mechanical phenomenon that illustrates the fundamental role of the electromagnetic vector potential A in determining the phase of a charged particle's wave function, even in regions where the magnetic field B is zero.This effect demonstrates that quantum particles are influenced not only by the fields directly present but also by the potentials associated with those fields.In the AB effect, an electron beam is split into two paths, with one path encircling a solenoid and the other bypassing it.Despite the absence of a magnetic field in the regions traversed by the beams, the vector potential A associated with the magnetic flux  through the solenoid induces a phase shift in the electron's wave function.This phase shift, quantified by qc     , manifests as a change in the interference pattern observed in the detection screen.The phenomenon underscores the principle of gauge invariance in QED (quantum electrodynamics), where physical observables remain invariant under local gauge transformations of the vector and scalar potentials.This reinforces the notion that the vector potential A has a profound impact on quantum systems, beyond its classical role.This article outlines the AB effect, including its theoretical framework, experimental observations, and implications.The focus on the role of the vector potential in quantum mechanics provides a comprehensive understanding of this important phenomenon.
We study the quantum interference of two paths that enclose a slowly rotating, infinitely long, and infinitely thin cylindrical shell, using the spacetime metric induced by the gravitational source. We show that the rotation of the shell affects the interference pattern even though it does not contribute to the classical motion of particles propagating outside the shell. Furthermore, we find that the gravitomagnetic field is non-vanishing only in the region inside the shell, yet it contributes to the interference taking place entirely in the exterior region. This phenomenon is therefore a gravitational analogue of the Aharonov-Bohm effect, in which a field confined to an inaccessible region influences the quantum phase of particles propagating in a field-free region.
Abstract The Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect is an important discovery in quantum theory and electrodynamics. It serves as a surprising quantum phenomenon in which an electrically charged particle can be affected by an electromagnetic potential, despite being confined to a region in which both the magnetic field and electric field are zero. This fact gives the electromagnetic potentials greater significance in quantum physics than in classical physics. Actually the original AB effect belongs to an ``electromagnetism-type". A certain type of vector potential is crucial for building the corresponding type of AB effect. In this work, we focus on the ``spin-type" AB effect. First, we derive the spin vector potential by considering a particle with a spin operator. Second, based on the spin vector potential we propose the spin AB effect, which is a gedanken double-slit interference experiment and is possible to observed in the lab. Third, we discuss the connections between the spin vector potential and some important spin interactions and predict a new type of spin-orbital interaction. Our result advances the study of the potential theory and opens a new avenue of the spin AB effect.
The two main features of the Aharonov-Bohm effect are the topological dependence of accumulated phase on the winding number around the magnetic fluxon, and nonlocality-local observations at any intermediate point along the trajectories are not affected by the fluxon. The latter property is usually regarded as exclusive to quantum mechanics. Here we show that both the topological and nonlocal features of the Aharonov-Bohm effect can be manifested in a classical model that incorporates random noise. The model also suggests new types of multiparticle topological nonlocal effects which have no quantum analog.