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Generalized Aharonov-Bohm effect, homotopy classes and Hausdorff dimension

Kröger, H

Published Jan 31, 1997• 6 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We suggest as gedanken experiment a generalization of the Aharonov-Bohm experiment, based on an array of solenoids. This experiment allows in principle to measure the decomposition into homotopy classes of the quantum mechanical propagator. This yields information on the geometry of the average path of propagation and allows to determine its Hausdorff dimension.

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We suggest as gedanken experiment a generalization of the Aharonov-Bohm experiment, based on an array of solenoids. This experiment allows in principle to measure the decomposition into homotopy classes of the quantum mechanical propagator. This yields information on the geometry of the average path of propagation and allows to determine its Hausdorff dimension.
We make a proposal for a Gedanken experiment, based on the Aharonov-Bohm effect, regarding how to measure in principle the zigzagness of the trajectory of propagation (aberration from its classical trajectory) of a massive particle in quantum mechanics. Experiment I is conceived to show that contributions from quantum paths aberrating from the classical trajectory are directly observable. Experiment II is conceived to measure average length, scaling behavior, and critical exponent (Hausdorff dimension) of quantum-mechanical paths.
The Aharonov–Bohm effect in general gauge theories, for particles in gauge-curvature-free regions, is studied using the quantum mechanical propagator in the form of a Feynman sum over paths. Following Schulman [L. S. Schulman, Techniques and Applications of Path Integration (Wiley, New York, 1981)], such paths are divided into their homotopy equivalence classes, and the contributions from each class of paths of the Feynman sum are identified with propagators of a wave equation in the universal covering manifold of M, resulting in a simple form for the propagator on M. A group homomorphism from ℋ, the fundamental homotopy group of M, to the gauge group G is shown to characterize possible Aharonov–Bohm effects, which can be divided into two types, Abelian and non-Abelian, according to whether ℋ*, the image of this homomorphism, is Abelian or non-Abelian. For a non-Abelian Aharonov–Bohm effect, it is necessary that both ℋ and G be non-Abelian. Simple examples illustrate the theory.
The Aharonov-Bohm effect is investigated in the Feynman path-integral formulation of quantum mechanics. We consider an idealized situation with an electron moving in a magnetic-field-free region outside a solenoid whose radius to length ratio is very small. The nonvanishing vector potential term in the Lagrangian is written as an angular-velocity-dependent potential. In order to account for a singularity due to the presence of the solenoid itself, a periodic constraint is imposed on the path integral. The propagator can then be evaluated using the polar-coordinate methods of Peak and Inomata. It is found that the propagator has the general form $K({\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{r}}}^{\ensuremath{'}\ensuremath{'}},{\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{r}}}^{\ensuremath{'}};\ensuremath{\tau})=\ensuremath{\Sigma}{n}^{}{\ensuremath{\chi}}_{n}{K}_{n}({\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{r}}}^{\ensuremath{'}\ensuremath{'}},{\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\mathrm{r}}}^{\ensuremath{'}};\ensuremath{\tau})$ where the sum is taken over all classes of homotopic paths and the ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{n}$ are a one-dimensional representation of the homotopy group. This is the form of the propagator as conjectured by Schulman.
The Aharonov–Bohm effect is formulated in terms of a constrained path integral. The path integral is explicitly evaluated in the covering space of the physical background to express the propagator as a sum of partial propagators corresponding to homotopically different paths. The interference terms are also calculated for an infinitely thin solenoid, which are found to contain the usual flux dependent shift as the dominant observable effect and an additional topological shift unnoticeable in the two slit interference experiment.