Healey, Richard (2001) On the Reality of Gauge Potentials. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Classically, a gauge potential was merely a convenient device for generating a corresponding gauge field. Quantum-mechanically, a gauge potential lays claim to independent status as a further feature of the physical situation. But whether this is a local or a global feature is not made any clearer by the variety of mathematical structures used to represent it. I argue that in the theory of electromagnetism (or a non-Abelian generalization) that describes quantum particles subject to a classical interaction, the gauge potential is best understood as a feature of the physical situation whose global character is most naturally represented by the holonomies of closed curves in space-time.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Healey, Richard
Keywords:	gauge potentials, gauge theories, quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, Aharonov-Bohm
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism
Depositing User:	Richard Andrew Healey
Date Deposited:	19 Jul 2001
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2010 15:10
Item ID:	328
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism
Date:	June 2001
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/328

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