Abstract
It is shown that there is a precise sense in which the Heisenberg uncertainty between fluxes of electric and magnetic fields through finite surfaces is given by (one-half times) the Gauss linking number of the loops that bound these surfaces. To regularize the relevant operators, one is naturally led to assign a framing to each loop. The uncertainty between the fluxes of electric and magnetic fields through a single surface is then given by the self-linking number of the framed loop which bounds the surface.
- Received 27 January 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.56.2073
©1997 American Physical Society