For a spin subjected to an adiabatically changing magnetic field, the solid angle result as embodied by a rotation operator is the only path-dependent factor in the quantum evolution operator. For a charged particle, the infinite degeneracy calls for a rigorous investigation. We find that in this case, it is the product of the rotation operator and a magnetic translation operator that is the path-dependent factor in the quantum evolution operator. This result agrees with the fact that the instantaneous hamiltonian is invariant under magnetic translation as well as rotation. Simple experimental verification is proposed.
In this paper we define a non-dynamical phase for a spin-1/2 particle in a rotating magnetic field in the non-adiabatic non-cyclic case, and this phase can be considered as a generalized Berry phase. We show that this phase reduces to the geometric Berry phase, in the adiabatic limit, up to a factor independent of the parameters of the system. We could add an arbitrary phase to the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian due to the gauge freedom. Then, we fix this arbitrary phase by comparing our Berry phase in the adiabatic limit with the Berry's result for the same system. Also, in the extreme non-adiabatic limit our Berry phase vanishes, modulo
2π, as expected. Although, our Berry phase is in general complex, it becomes real in the expected cases: the adiabatic limit, the extreme non-adiabatic limit, and the points at which the state of the system returns to its initial form, up to a phase factor. Therefore, this phase can be considered as a generalization of the Berry phase. Moreover, we investigate the relation between the value of the generalized Berry phase, the period of the states and the period of the Hamiltonian.