We calculate the Abraham force and Aharonov-Casher exerted by electromagnetic quantum vacuum on alkaline atoms in highly excited, long-living Rydberg states. Because of their high polarizability long-life time such are good candidates to observe these forces.

It is demonstrated that, based on an analysis of protective measurements, distinct quantum states cannot be compatible with a single state of reality. Recently Lewis et al (2012) demonstrated that additional assumptions such as preparation independence are always necessary to rule out a ψ-epistemic model, in which the quantum state is not uniquely determined by the underlying physical state. Th...

We investigate the persistent currents and magnetization of a mesoscopic system consisting of two clean metallic rings sharing a single contact point in a magnetic field. Many novel features with respect to the single-ring geometry are underlined, including the explicit dependence of wavefunctions on the Aharonov-Bohm fluxes, the complex pattern of twofold and threefold degeneracies, the key rô...

When a quantum particle is confined between two impenetrable concentric cylindrical walls, threaded by a magnetic flux tube along their common axis, its energy spectrum presents a dependence on the flux. This is the so-called bound state Aharonov-Bohm effect [1]. A gravitational analogue of this effect, with a cosmic string replacing the flux tube, has been studied in references [2, 3]. This is...

A novel magnetic interference effect is proposed for a neutral, but polarizable exciton in a quantum ring with a finite width. The magnetic interference effect originates from the nonzero dipole moment in the exciton. The ground state of exciton acquires a nonzero angular momentum with increasing normal magnetic field. This leads to the suppression of the photoluminescence in defined windows of...

The transport properties of three-dimensional quantum microconstrictions in field-free conditions and under the influence of magnetic fields of arbitrary strengths and directions are studied via a generalized Büttiker model @Phys. Rev. B 41, 7906 ~1990!#. It is shown that conductance quantization is influenced by the geometry of the microconstriction ~that is, its length and the shape of its tr...

We study the basic requirements for neutron confinement in the framework of some 3-D Aharonov-Casher configurations PACS number(s): 03.65Ge, 03.65.Bz, 12.60.J, 11.30.P. Aharonov and Casher (AC) pointed out the existence of a quantum mechanical process [1–3] wherein the behavior of an uncharged dipole is affected by the presence of an electric field. Let us imagine an electrically charged object...