The time-dependent Aharonov-Casher effect

TL;DR

This paper derives a covariant expression for the Aharonov-Casher phase and explores its behavior for a magnetic moment in time-dependent electromagnetic fields, revealing the interplay of electric and magnetic phases.

Contribution

It introduces a covariant formulation of the Aharonov-Casher phase and applies it to analyze a neutral magnetic moment in dynamic electromagnetic backgrounds.

Findings

Derived a covariant expression for the Aharonov-Casher phase.

Analyzed phase effects in a plane electromagnetic wave background.

Explored the interaction of electric and magnetic phases for a magnetic moment.

Abstract

In this paper we give a covariant expression for Aharonov-Casher phase. This expression is a combination of the canonical electric field, Aharonov-Casher phase plus a magnetic field phase shift. We use this covariant expression for the Aharonov-Casher phase to investigate the case of a neutral particle with a non-zero magnetic moment moving in the {\it time dependent} electric and magnetic fields of a plane electromagnetic wave background. We focus on the case where the magnetic moment of the particle is oriented so that both the electric and magnetic field lead to non-zero phases, and we look at the interplay between these electric and magnetic phases.