Curl-free vector potential observation on the macro-scale for charged particles in a magnetic field compared with that on the micro-scale: the Aharonov–Bohm effect

Abstract

The recently reported curl-free vector potential observation (Varma et al 2012 Eur. Phys. J. D 66 38) in relation to a system of charged particles in a magnetic field points to the existence of a new state of the electron—a quantum modulated state—which arises through a scattering-induced transition across Landau levels. This quantum modulated state has been shown to account for some very unusual effects on the macro-scale, which are distinct from the ones which can be understood in terms of a 'classical electron' and also from the ones which can be understood in terms of a 'quantum electron' on the micro-scale characterized by the Planck quantum. This quantum modulated state has been shown to account for the observation of a static curl-free vector potential on the macro-scale alluded to above, as well as other matter wave manifestations on the macro-scale. The macro-scale curl-free vector potential observation differs fundamentally from the corresponding micro-scale effect—the well-known Aharonov–Bohm effect. These two effects—on the macro-scale and the macro-scale—are compared and contrasted to each other here in their manner of detection of the static curl-free vector potential. Such a comparative study helps gain a deeper understanding of the nature of the quantum modulated state and the macro-scale matter wave it represents.