Aharonov–Bohm Effect with an Effective Complex-Valued Vector Potential

Authors

Ismael L. Paiva, University of Bristol
Yakir Aharonov, Chapman UniversityFollow
Jeff Tollaksen, Chapman UniversityFollow
Mordecai Waegell, Chapman UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-22-2023

Abstract

The interaction between a quantum charge and a dynamic source of a magnetic field is considered in the Aharonov–Bohm (AB) scenario. It is shown that, in weak interactions with a post-selection of the source, the effective vector potential is, generally, complex-valued. This leads to new experimental protocols to detect the AB phase before the source is fully encircled. While this does not necessarily change the nonlocal status of the AB effect, it brings new insights into it. Moreover, we discuss how these results might have consequences for the correspondence principle, making complex vector potentials relevant to the study of classical systems.

Comments

This article was originally published in New Journal of Physics, volume 25, in 2023. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/acd4dd

Recommended Citation

Ismael L Paiva et al 2023 New J. Phys. 25 053017. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/acd4dd

Peer Reviewed

1

Copyright

The authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.