A Remark on the Aharonov-Bohm Potential and a Discussion on the Electric Charge Quantization
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The purpose of this work is to stress on a mathematical requirement of the Stokes' theorem that, naturally, yields a reassessment of the electric charge quantization condition, which is, here, explicitly carried out in the context of the Aharonov-Bohm set-up. We argue that, by virtue of an ambiguity in the definition of the circulation of the vector potential, a modified quantization condition comes out for the electric charge that opens the way for understanding fundamental fractional charges. One does not, any longer, need to rely on the existence of a magnetic monopole to justify electric charge quantization.
7 pages, 1 eps figure, title changed, references added, minor changes in the text, work presented at the Fourth International Winter Conference on Mathematical Methods in Physics, 09 - 13 August 2004, Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas (CBPF/MCT), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
7 pages, 1 eps figure, title changed, references added, minor changes in the text, work presented at the Fourth International Winter Conference on Mathematical Methods in Physics, 09 - 13 August 2004, Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas (CBPF/MCT), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil