Theoretical Discovery, Experiment, and Controversy in the Aharonov-Bohm Effect: An Oral History Interview

TL;DR

This paper presents an oral history interview with Yakir Aharonov discussing the discovery, experimental testing, and ongoing debates surrounding the Aharonov-Bohm effect, along with related developments in quantum physics.

Contribution

It provides a detailed personal account of the theoretical discovery, experimental efforts, and interpretative controversies of the Aharonov-Bohm effect from Yakir Aharonov's perspective.

Findings

Historical insights into the discovery of the Aharonov-Bohm effect

Descriptions of key experiments testing the effect

Discussion of interpretative debates and subsequent developments

Abstract

This oral history interview provides Yakir Aharonov's perspective on the theoretical discovery of the Aharonov-Bohm effect in 1959, during his PhD studies in Bristol with David Bohm, the reception of the effect, the efforts to test it empirically (up to Tonomura's experiment), and some of the debates regarding the existence of the effect and its interpretation. The interview also discusses related later developments until the 1980s, including modular momentum and Berry's phase. It includes recollections from meetings with Werner Heisenberg, Richard Feynman, and Chen-Ning Yang, also mentioning John Bell, Robert Chambers, Werner Ehrenberg, Sir Charles Frank, Wendell Furry, Gunnar K\"all\'en, Maurice Pryce, Nathan Rosen, John Wheeler, and Eugene Wigner.