Quantum anticentrifugal potential in a bent waveguide

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the existence of a quantum anticentrifugal potential in bent waveguides, showing that boundary conditions alone can induce localized states without extra potentials, with implications for interference experiments.

Contribution

It reveals that boundary conditions in bent waveguides create an anticentrifugal effect, eliminating the need for additional potentials to produce localized quantum states.

Findings

Existence of quantum anticentrifugal potential in bent waveguides.

Boundary conditions induce localized states without extra potentials.

Potential for experimental detection via interference effects.

Abstract

We show the existence of an anticentrifugal force for a quantum particle in a bent waveguide. This counterintuitive force due to dimensionality was shown to exist in a flat $R^2$ space but there it needs an additional $\delta$-like potential at the origin in order to brake the translational invariance and to exhibit localized states. In the case of the bent waveguide there is no need of any additional potential since here the boundary conditions break the symmetry. The effect may be observed in interference experiments which are sensitive to the additional phase of the wavefunction gained in the bent regions and can find application in distinguishing between straight and bent geometries.