Philosophical aspects of the Aharonov-Bohm Effect

• Grant number: 12/50508-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2012
• End date: March 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - Epistemology
• Principal Investigator: Osvaldo Frota Pessoa Junior
• Grantee: Ricardo Mendes Grande
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The subject of this project is the Aharonov-Bohm Effect (EAB). Since its prediction by physicists Yakir Aharonov and David Bohm in an article published in 1959, many papers on the topic have been published and the controversy about the relevance of potentials in non-relativistic quantum mechanics has been a subject much discussed by mathematicians, physicists and philosophers of science. Let us briefly expose the objectives of this work. 1 - To discuss the interpretation of the potentials that are used in the classical theory of electromagnetism; 2 - To understand the in which sense the potentials are necessary for the mathematical formulation of non-relativistic quantum mechanics; 3 - To explain why certain mathematical terms that were introduced in a theory as mere computational tools are capable of physical interpretation; 4 - To discuss the reality of the potentials and fields in quantum mechanics, in order to enrich the philosophical debate about the local or nonlocal nature of Effect of the Aharonov-Bohm (EAB). (AU)