From hunches to surprises – discovering macro-scale quantum phenomena in charged particle dynamics

This article describes how, an intuitive guess – a hunch – in relation to a system of charged particles in a magnetic field pursued over four decades, has led to the discovery of an entirely new set of phenomena, which could not have been conceived in view of the prevailing conceptions. They pertain to the existence of quantized residence times in an adiabatic magnetic trap, and more surprisingly, the existence of macro-scale matter wave interference effects, with an ħ independent matter wavelength. They even include the observation of a curl-free vector potential on the macro-scale as against its micro-scale detection à la Aharonov–Bohm. Though on the macro-scale, these results cannot be understood in terms of the Lorentz equation, which is known to govern the dynamics on the macro-scale. They have, in fact, been shown to be of quantum origin and are found to be attributed to the quantum modulation of the de Broglie wave, and hence could not have been covered by the Lorentz equation. All these phenomena are seen to run counter to the well-entrenched canonical perception that matter wave interference effects and the vector potential observation – the Aharonov–Bohm effect – pertain only to the micro-scale. The unusual phenomena so discovered constitute a complete surprise as they are entirely unexpected under the canonical view and appear to upturn the latter.