The Aharonov-Bohm effect in scattering of short-wavelength particles

TL;DR

This paper investigates how magnetic vortices influence quantum scattering of charged particles, revealing a flux-dependent forward propagation effect that could be experimentally observed.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the magnetic flux acts as a gate for forward scattering of short-wavelength particles, regardless of vortex penetrability.

Findings

Flux serves as a gate for forward propagation.

Effect is identical for penetrable and impenetrable vortices.

Potential for experimental detection of the Aharonov-Bohm effect.

Abstract

Quantum-mechanical scattering of nonrelativistic charged particles by a magnetic vortex of nonzero transverse size is considered. We show that the flux of the vortex serves as a gate for the strictly forward propagation of particles with short, as compared to the transverse size of the vortex, wavelengths; this effect is the same for a penetrable vortex as for an impenetrable one. A possibility for the experimental detection of the scattering Aharonov-Bohm effect is discussed.