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Physical Review

Quantum Theory without Electromagnetic Potentials

Bryce Seligman DeWitt

Published Mar 15, 1962• 132 citations
Publisher

Abstract

It is pointed out that by a nonlocal phase transformation of the conventional wave function the quantum theory of the interaction between charged particles and the electromagnetic field can be reformulated solely in terms of the field strengths. The assertion of Aharonov and Bohm that the potentials are essential for expressing the laws of physics is therefore unfounded.

DOI
10.1103/physrev.125.2189

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It is pointed out that by a nonlocal phase transformation of the conventional wave function the quantum theory of the interaction between charged particles and the electromagnetic field can be reformulated solely in terms of the field strengths. The assertion of Aharonov and Bohm that the potentials are essential for expressing the laws of physics is therefore unfounded.
There is a consensus today that the the main lesson of the Aharonov-Bohm effect is that a picture of electromagnetism based on the local action of the field strengths is not possible in quantum mechanics. Contrary to this statement, it is argued here that when the source of the electromagnetic potential is treated in the framework of quantum theory, the Aharonov-Bohm effect can be explained without the notion of potentials. It is explained by local action of the field of the electron on the source of the potential. The core of the Aharonov-Bohm effect is the same as the core of quantum entanglement: the quantum wave function describes all systems together.
It is frequently stated that the electromagnetic vector potential acquires a fundamental role in quantum physics, whereas classically it only represents a convenient, but by no means necessary, way of representing the electromagnetic field. Here we argue that this is a historical accident due to the fact that the electromagnetic field was discovered before photons, while the electron itself was discovered first as a particle, before it became clear that it must also be treated as a wave and therefore as an excitation of the underlying electron field. We illustrate the fact that the vector potential ought to play a fundamental role classically using the Aharonov-Bohm effect. This effect is considered as the strongest argument for the role the vector potential plays in quantum physics, however, here we offer a fully classical account of it. This is a consequence of the fact that any account, be it classical or quantum, must involve the vector potential in order to preserve the local nature of the Aharonov-Bohm (as well as all the other) phases.
Quantum mechanics is essentially described in terms of complex quantities like wave functions. The interesting point is that phase and amplitude of the complex quantities are not independent of each other, but coupled by some kind of conservation law. This coupling exists in time-independent quantum mechanics as well as in in its time-dependent form. It can be traced back to a reformulation of quantum mechanics in terms of complex nonlinear Riccati equations, where the quadratic term in the latter equation explains the origin of the phase-amplitude coupling. Since realistic physical systems are always in contact with some kind of environment this aspect is also taken into account. It turns out that this dissipative effect can either affect the amplitude or the phase of the complex quantity describing the open quantum system. This suggests a relation between non-unitary transformations and gauge-transformations for these systems. A change of the amplitude also seems to be connected with a second quantum of action for "radial" changes, compared to ħ for "angular" changes, leading to an interpretation of Sommerfeld's constant.
The motion of a system of particles under electromagnetic interaction is considered. Under the assumption that the force acting on an electric charge is given by the sum of the electromagnetic fields produced by any other charged particles in its neighborhood, we prove that the vector potential of the electromagnetic field has to be considered for the balance of kinetic momentum. The theory cannot be quantized in the usual form -- because it involves a mass matrix that depends on spatial variables -- and the Hamilton's function becomes singular at a distance equal to the geometric mean of the electrodynamic radiuses of electrons and protons.