An Elementary Aharonov-Bohm System in Three Space Dimensions: Quantum Attraction With No Classical Force
As a consequence of the Aharonov-Bohm effect, there is a quantum-induced attraction between a charged particle and a rigid impenetrable hoop made from an arbitrarily thin tube containing a superconductor quantum of magnetic flux. This is remarkable because in classical physics there is no force between the two objects, and quantum-mechanical effects (associated with uncertainty-principle energy) generally are repulsive rather than attractive. For an incident spinless charged particle in a P wave, in a configuration with total angular momentum zero, we verify a resonance just above threshold using the Kohn variational principle in its S-matrix form. Even if optimistic choices of parameters describing a model system with these properties turned out to be feasible, the temperature required to observe the resonance would be far lower than has yet been attained in the laboratory.
- Research Organization:
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00515
- OSTI ID:
- 812603
- Report Number(s):
- SLAC-PUB-9606; TRN: US0303424
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 9 Jan 2003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Quantum motion of a point particle in the presence of the Aharonov–Bohm potential in curved space
The Aharonov–Bohm effect in scattering theory