Abstract
It is shown that the breakdown of a global symmetry group to a discrete subgroup can lead to analogs of the Aharonov-Bohm effect. At sufficiently low momentum transfer, the cross section for scattering of a particle with nontrivial charge off a global vortex is almost equal to (but definitely different from) maximal Aharonov-Bohm scattering; the effect goes away at large momentum transfer. The scattering of a spin-1/2 particle off a magnetic vortex provides an amusing experimentally realizable example.
- Received 20 December 1991
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.68.2567
©1992 American Physical Society