Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-11T21:31:35.366Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nonlocality and the Aharonov-Bohm Effect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Richard Healey
Richard Healey*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Arizona
*
†Send requests for reprints to the author, Department of Philosophy, University of Arizona, 213 Social Sciences Bldg. #27, Tucson, AZ 85721.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

At first sight the Aharonov-Bohm effect appears nonlocal, though not in the way EPR/ Bell correlations are generally acknowledged to be nonlocal. This paper applies an analysis of nonlocality to the Aharonov-Bohm effect to show that its peculiarities may be blamed either on a failure of a principle of local action or on a failure of a principle of separability. Different interpretations of quantum mechanics disagree on how blame should be allocated. The parallel between the Aharonov-Bohm effect and violations of Bell inequalities turns out to be so close that a balanced assessment of the nature and significance of quantum nonlocality requires a detailed study of both effects.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 64 , Issue 1 , March 1997 , pp. 18 - 41
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 by the Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

‡

I wish to acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation, under whose grant SBER94–22185 this work was completed. Thanks also to a number of colleagues, especially Paul Teller and one other anonymous reviewer, for encouragement and advice.

References

Aharonov, Y. (1984), “Non-Local Phenomena and the Aharonov-Bohm Effect”, in Kamefuchi et al. (ed.) (1984), pp. 10–19.Google Scholar
Aharonov, Y. and Bohm, D. (1959), “Significance of Electromagnetic Potentials in the Quantum Theory”, Physical Review 115: 485–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, J. S. (1964), “On the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox”, Physics 1: 195–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bohm, D. (1952), “A suggested interpretation of the quantum theory in terms of ‘hidden variables’, I and II”, Physical Review 85: 166–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bohm, D. and Hiley, B. J. (1993), The Undivided Universe. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chambers, R. G. (1960), “Shift of an Electron Interference Pattern by Enclosed Magnetic Flux”, Physical Review Letters 5: 3–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cushing, J. and McMullin, E. (1989), Philosophical Consequences of Quantum Theory: Reflections on Bell's Theorem. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Dürr, D., Goldstein, S., and Zanghi, N. (1992), “Quantum Equilibrium and the Origin of Absolute Uncertainty”, Journal of Statistical Physics 67: 843–907.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehrenberg, W. and Siday, R. W. (1949), “The Refractive Index in Electron Optics and the Principles of Dynamics”, Proceedings of the Physical Society of London B62: 8–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Einstein, A. (1948), “Quantum Mechanics and Reality”, Dialectica 2: 320–324. (This translation from the original German by Howard in Howard 1989, pp 233–234.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feynman, R. P., Leighton, R. B., and Sands, M. L. (1965), The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume 2. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Healey, R. A. (1989), The Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics: an Interactive Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healey, R. A. (1991), “Holism and Nonseparability”, Journal of Philosophy, 88: 393–421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healey, R. A. (1992), “Chasing Quantum Causes: How Wild is the Goose?”, Philosophical Topics 20: 181–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healey, R. A. (1994), “Nonseparability and Causal Explanation”, Studies in History and Philosophy of the Physical Sciences, 25: 337–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holland, P. R. (1993), The Quantum Theory of Motion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard, D. (1985), “Einstein on Locality and Separability”, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 16: 171–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard, D. (1989), “Holism, Separability and the Metaphysical Implications of the Bell Experiments”, in Cushing and McMullin 1989, pp. 224–253.Google Scholar
Jarrett, J. (1984), “On the Physical Significance of the Locality Conditions in the Bell Arguments”, Noûs 18: 569–589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kamefuchi, S. et al. (ed.) (1984), Proceedings of the International Symposium: Foundations of Quantum Mechanics in the Light of New Technology. Tokyo: Physical Society of Japan.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. (1986) Philosophical Papers, Volume II. New York: Oxford.Google Scholar
Lewis, D. (1986a) On the Plurality of Worlds. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Liu, C. (1994) “The Aharonov-Bohm Effect and the Reality of Wave-Packets”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 45: 977–1000.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peshkin, M. and Tonomura, A. (1989), The Aharonov-Bohm Effect. New York: Springer Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quine, W. V. O. (1969), “Natural Kinds”, in Ontological Relativity and Other Essays. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 114–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redhead, M. L. G. (1987), Incompleteness, Nonlocality and Realism. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Shimony, A. (1986), “Events and Processes in the Quantum World”, in Penrose, R. and Isham, C. (ed.), Quantum Concepts in Space and Time. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Teller, P. (1986), “Relational Holism and Quantum Mechanics”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 37: 71–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teller, P. (1989), “Relativity, Relational Holism and the Bell Inequalities”, in Cushing and McMullin (ed.), pp. 208–223.Google Scholar
Tonamura, A. et al. (1986), “Evidence for Aharonov-Bohm Effect with Magnetic Field Completely Shielded from Electrons”, Physical Review Letters 56: 792–795.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, T. T. and Yang, C. N. (1975), “Concept of Nonintegrable Phase Factors and Global Formulation of Gauge Fields”, Physical Review D12: 3845.Google Scholar
Yang, C. N. (1984), “Gauge Fields, Electromagnetism and the Bohm-Aharonov Effect”, in S. Kamefuchi et al. (ed.) (1984): 5–9.Google Scholar