We show that the pure Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect, or its dual (DAB), depends only on the net electric, or magnetic charge of an interfering object, however many internal degrees of freedom that system may have. The reciprocal Aharonov-Casher (AC) and He-McKellar-Wilkens (HMW) effects, on the other hand, involve physical properties---the magnetic and electric polarization of the system---which couple a system's internal degrees of freedom to its center-of-mass coordinate through the field. For composite systems this illustrates a fundamental difference between the two types of phenomenon, and one which could be important as the number of internal degrees of freedom become large. We show that, for a single internal degree of freedom, the result of this coupling is a transient loss of coherence in the observed interference of the center-of-mass coordinate.
We show that the pure Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect, or its dual (DAB), depends only on the net electric, or magnetic charge of an interfering object, however many internal degrees of freedom that system may have. The reciprocal Aharonov-Casher (AC) and He-McKellar-Wilkens (HMW) effects, on the other hand, involve physical properties---the magnetic and electric polarization of the system---which couple a system's internal degrees of freedom to its center-of-mass coordinate through the field. For composite systems this illustrates a fundamental difference between the two types of phenomenon, and one which could be important as the number of internal degrees of freedom become large. We show that, for a single internal degree of freedom, the result of this coupling is a transient loss of coherence in the observed interference of the center-of-mass coordinate.
Given that it is now possible to observe the interference of molecules with comparatively numerous internal degrees of freedom, we might wonder what role these extra degrees of freedom play in the traditional double‐slit experiment. Here we seek to understand the effect of these degrees of freedom in an Aharonov‐Bohm type experiment. We find, perhaps unsurprisingly that an ionised object can exhibit the Aharonov‐Bohm effect in a manner which is independent of its internal structure. Meanwhile, the Aharonov‐Bohm type effects involving objects with magnetic, or electric dipole moments (the Aharonov‐Casher and He‐McKellar‐Wilkens effects, respectively) depend explicitly upon the structure. When—due to some specified dynamics of the internal variables—an object’s dipole moment changes during the experiment, we find that the corresponding phase shift depends upon the time average and variance of the internal dynamics. Furthermore, given that the internal dynamics are, to an extent, dependent upon the centre of mass motion there is also a small, transient loss of coherence associated with each internal degree of freedom.
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.
Both classical and quantum wave interference phenomena rely on the notion of phase. In both classical as well as quantum electrodynamics the phases are acquired locally; however, the quantum phases have the additional property that they can be transmitted even when the classical value of the degree of freedom relevant for the transfer (such as the value of the electric field at one point) are zero. Here we use a covariant formalism that is capable of explaining the electric and magnetic versions of the Aharonov-Bohm effect, as well as the Aharonov-Casher effect, through local interactions of charges and currents with the quantum electromagnetic field. We show that Aharonov-Bohm effect, which is just another instance of interference based on a quantum phase, is present even if the solenoid generating the magnetic field is shielded by a superconductor. This is because even though the classical value of the magnetic field is zero in the superconductor (the Meissner effect), the quantum operators pertaining to the magnetic field are non-zero and are furthermore responsible for transmitting the phase information between the solenoid and the electron. The conclusion of our work is that quantum phases cannot be shielded and we believe that this, among other consequences, finally resolves the last outstanding mystery in the Aharonov-Bohm effect.
We briefly review the theoretical formulations and applications of the Aharonov--Bohm effect and the Aharonov--Casher effect with emphasis on mesoscopic physics. Topics relating to the Aharonov--Bohm effect include: locality, periodicity, non-integrable phase factors, Abelian gauge theory, interference, the spectrum and persistent current of electrons on a ring pierced by a magnetic field, Onsager reciprocity relations, and Aharonov--Bohm interferometer. Topics relating to the Aharonov--Casher effect include: a magnetic dipole in an electric field, locality, periodicity, non-Abelian gauge invariance, SU(2) non-integrable phase factors, spin-orbit coupling, Pauli equation, Rashba Hamiltonian, Aharonov--Casher interferometer, conductance and polarization in two-channel systems due to the Aharonov--Casher effect.
We consider a composite system consisting of coupled particles, and investigate decoherence due to coupling of the center-of-mass degree of freedom to the internal vibrational degrees of freedom. For a composite system of bound particles, we show that in general such a decoherence effect exists, and leads to suppression of interference between different paths of the center-of-mass. For the special case of harmonically-bound particles moving in an external potential, we show that the coupling between the center-of-mass and internal degrees of freedom takes the form of parametric driving of the vibrational degrees of freedom, and that nontrivial coupling depends on the second derivative of the external potential. We find a solution to this parametric driving problem in one dimension for a fixed center-of-mass trajectory. We also propose a measure of compositeness, which quantifies the extent to which such a composite system cannot be approximated as a single, indivisible particle. We perform numerical simulations for a simple interference experiment, consisting of two wave packets scattering off of a square well, and show a close connection between suppression of interference and entanglement between the center-of-mass and internal degrees of freedom, which depends on the initial state of the internal mode. We also calculate the measure of compositeness for this system.
ABSTRACT\nThe interaction of charged and uncharged particles with intrinsic magnetic moment for the latter with an electromagnetic field in the microworld brings out the actual role of the electromagnetic potentials as emphasized in quantum theory which generate electromagnetic interaction via gauge invariance requirement.\nIn the Aharonov-Bohm (A-B) effect (dealing with two electron coherent beams passing a double slit system), the resulting interference pattern is shifted by the insertion of a very long solenoid between the two electron beams with an influence described by the magnetic vector\npotential A on the electron wave functions. Aharonov and Casher presented the complement of the Aharonov-Bohm effect involving the role of the electric scalar potential co on a beam of neutrons each carrying an internal magnetic dipole moment. A similar shift in the interference pattern is found involving two coherent neutron beam interference, where the solenoid in the A-B arrangement is replaced by an electric line charge, and the electrons by polarized neutrons. The effective Hamiltonian describing the two effects is used to determine the interference pattern.\nThe experiment to verify the existence of the Aharonov-Bohm effect which have been performed using an electron holography with a small toroidal ferromagnetic substance confining a magnetic flux by Tonomura in 1982 is discussed. The Aharonov-Casher effect, which was conducted using a Bonse-Hart single-crystal neutron interferometer by A. Cirnmino in 1989, is also discussed. Both experimental results lead to the same phenomenon: a phase shift in the observed pattern interference quantitatively explained as caused by the influence of the proper component of the electrodynamic potentials.\n\nKey Word: Kuantum, Aharonov- cahser