Locality of the Aharonov-Bohm-Casher effect

TL;DR

This paper investigates the locality of the Aharonov-Bohm-Casher effects by analyzing electromagnetic shielding configurations, demonstrating that the effects are rooted in local field interactions rather than nonlocal phenomena.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of shielding configurations and clarifies the local nature of the Aharonov-Bohm-Casher effects, challenging nonlocal interpretations.

Findings

Classical shielding eliminates the effect when electromagnetic field overlap is removed.

Shielding configuration influences the effect when charge quantization is considered.

Results support the view that the effects originate from local electromagnetic field interactions.

Abstract

We address the question of the locality versus nonlocality in the Aharonov-Bohm and the Aharonov-Casher effects. For this purpose, we investigate all possible configurations of ideal shielding of the overlap between the electromagnetic fields generated by a charge and by a magnetic flux, and analyze their consequences on the Aharonov-Bohm-Casher interference. In a classical treatment of shielding, the Aharonov-Bohm-Casher effect vanishes regardless of the geometry of shielding, when the local overlap of electromagnetic fields is completely eliminated. On the other hand, the result depends on the configuration of shielding if the charge quantization in the superconducting shield is taken into account. It is shown that our results are fully understood in terms of the fluctuating local-field interaction. Our analysis strongly supports the alternative view on the Aharonov-Bohm-Casher interference that the effects originate from the local action of electromagnetic fields.