New diffraction experiment on the electrostatic Aharonov-Bohm effect

An experimental proposal to test the physical effect of the vector potential

There are two interpretations of the Aharonov–Bohm (A–B) effect. One interpretation asserts that the A–B effect demonstrates that the vector potential is a physical reality that can result in the phase shift of a moving charge in quantum mechanics. The other interpretation asserts that the phase shift of the moving charge results from the interaction energy between the electromagnetic field of the moving charge and external electromagnetic fields. This paper briefly reviews these two interpretations and analyzes their differences. In addition, a new experimental scheme is proposed to determine which interpretation is correct.

Absence of the Electric Aharonov-Bohm Effect due to Induced Charges

This paper states that the induced charge should not be neglected in the electric Aharonov-Bohm (A-B) effect. If the induced charge is taken into account, the interference pattern of the moving charge will not change with the potential difference between the two metal tubes. It means that the scalar potential itself can not affect the phase of the moving charge, and the true factor affecting the phase of the moving charge is the energy of the system including the moving charge and the induced charge.

Force-free gravitational redshift: proposed gravitational Aharonov-Bohm experiment

We propose a feasible laboratory interferometry experiment with matter waves in a gravitational potential caused by a pair of artificial field-generating masses. It will demonstrate that the presence of these masses (and, for moving atoms, time dilation) induces a phase shift, even if it does not cause any classical force. The phase shift is identical to that produced by the gravitational redshift (or time dilation) of clocks ticking at the atom's Compton frequency. In analogy to the Aharonov-Bohm effect in electromagnetism, the quantum mechanical phase is a function of the gravitational potential and not the classical forces.

Röntgen quantum phase shift: a semiclassical local electrodynamical effect?

The Röntgen quantum phase shift is exhibited by the interference of point particles endowed with an electric dipole moment due to their motion relative to a source of the magnetic field. Here we show, using arguments involving the classical concepts of force and its impulse, that the Röntgen phase shift arises within a largely classical (semiclassical) theoretical framework. All the subtleties normally associated with the nonlocality of magnetic (Aharonov-Bohm-type) quantum phase phenomena are uncontroversially absent in the classical treatment.