Comment on "Role of Potentials in the Aharonov-Bohm Effect"

Authors

Yakir Aharonov, Chapman UniversityFollow
Eliahu Cohen, Tel Aviv University
Daniel Rohrlich, Ben Gurion University of the Negev

Document Type

Response or Comment

Publication Date

8-2015

Abstract

Are the electromagnetic scalar and vector potentials dispensable? Vaidman [Phys. Rev. A 86, 040101(R) (2012)] has suggested that local interactions of gauge-invariant quantities, e.g., magnetic torques, suffice for the description of all quantum electromagnetic phenomena. We analyze six thought experiments that challenge this suggestion. All of them have explanations in terms of local interactions of gauge-dependent quantities, and, in addition, some have explanations in terms of nonlocal interactions of gauge-invariant quantities. We claim, however, that two of our examples have no gauge-invariant formal description and that, in general, no local description can dispense with electromagnetic potentials.

Comments

This comment was originally published in Physical Review A, volume 92, number 2, in 2015. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.92.026101

Recommended Citation

Y. Aharonov, E. Cohen, and D. Rohrlich, “Comment on ``Role of potentials in the Aharonov-Bohm effect’’,” Phys. Rev. A, vol. 92, no. 2, p. 026101, Aug. 2015. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.92.026101

Copyright

American Physical Society