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Aharonov-Bohm effect on Aharonov-Casher scattering

Journal Article · · Physical Review. A
 [1]
  1. School of Physics and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275 (China)

The scattering of relativistic spin-1/2 neutral particles with a magnetic dipole moment by a long straight charged line and a magnetic flux line at the same position is studied. The scattering cross sections for unpolarized and polarized particles are obtained by solving the Dirac-Pauli equation. The results are in general the same as those for pure Aharonov-Casher scattering (by the charged line alone) as expected. However, in special cases when the incident energy, the line charge density, and the magnetic flux satisfy some relations, the cross section for polarized particles is dramatically changed. Relations between the polarization of incident particles and that of scattered ones are presented, both in the full relativistic case and the nonrelativistic limit. The characteristic difference between the general and special cases lies in the backward direction: in the general cases the incident particles are simply bounced while in the special cases their polarization is turned over simultaneously. For pure Aharonov-Casher scattering there exist cases where the helicities of all scattered particles are reversed. This seems to be remarkable but appears unnoticed previously. Two mathematical approaches are employed to deal with the singularity of the electric and magnetic field and it turns out that the physical results are essentially the same.

OSTI ID:
21388735
Journal Information:
Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 81; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English